Chapter 8

An Unexpected Visitor

The crowd below the royal family erupted with stomping hooves and cheers of delight. Queen Star Bright stepped forward with Princess Luna and King Night Shade. Now that they were all perfectly visible the King spoke allowed adding an additional statement.

“Our subjects! Now is the time to make amends for our past mistakes and as my daughter has already put it; embrace in a new tomorrow!”

With that said, the royal family went back inside the throne room where the three tribe leaders were looking over the Peace Treaty and newly created Equestrian map and began congratulating themselves. Once they spotted the rulers of Canterlot they bowed deeply. The cloaked guild member turned his attention away from the map and bowed his head.

“I think we owe you our thanks young one,” said King Night Shade as he approached the cloaked stallion. “With all the excitement in the air, I think this calls for a feast! What say you my Queen?”

“I agree,” said Queen Star Bright sweetly. “Snap Shot, alert the kitchens!”

“Right away your highness!” Snap Shot said his chest puffing out. “Any special requests?”

“Oh, nothing that can’t be done. Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, Chancellor Pudinghead, why don’t you and your companions join us!”

“We don’t want to take up anymore of your time your majesty,” said Princess Platinum politely. “We couldn’t possibly accept. Not with the food rations being scarce.”

“I’m sure we can manage Princess!” King Night Shade said, his eyes twinkling. “Please, we insist!”

“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. Yes, very well then! We humbly except! Chancellor, Commander, what say you?”

“Full steam ahead!” boomed Commander Hurricane.

“Smart Cookie, clear our schedule!” cried Chancellor Puddinghead in delight. “There’s a celebration that needs us!”

Celestia and Luna looked expectantly to the spot where the guild member was, but there no one there. Wondering where he had gone, the two left the throne room unnoticed by any of the adults. Once they were out in the halls they split up in search for the Earth Pony. Luna began her search upstairs, starting with her parent’s bedroom. Celestia looked for the missing pony in the rest of the downstairs halls. Her search brought her to the kitchens where the chefs were going over what would make a good meal for the nights feast without going overboard. Sneaking a quick look around, she saw no cloaked stallion amongst the busy cooks. By this time, Luna had almost finished her search upstairs when she heard two voices coming from downstairs. Making her way down the steps, she followed the voices until she arrived at the spot where she would go to practice moon and star raising. At the foot of these steps the cloaked stallion was talking to one of the guards. He was trying to explain why he was down there to begin with. Luna knew that this area was out of bounds to everyone except for her Celestia and their parents. What was the guild member doing down here? The guard remained silent. Not allowing the Earth Pony to go any further.

“Look,” said the guild member as patiently as he could manage. “All I need from down there is one specific book and that’s all. My guild has left me with a job you see, and I have been entrusted with it. Perhaps if I tell you what I’m looking for, you could go and bring it to me? I promise, I’ll stay right here.”

“My apologies sir!” said the guard seriously. “But I cannot allow you or anypony to go down there and take what you want. I would be going against my duties!”

“That’s why you’ll be the one retrieving what I need,” repeated the cloaked stallion.

Looking around to make sure no one was around he continued to explain his reasons.

“I give you my word, as soon as I’m done with it, I’ll give it back and nopony will ever know it was gone.”

“I’m sorry, but nopony is permitted to take anything from the catacombs below!”

Princess Luna hid behind the corner to eavesdrop. The Stallion continued his attempts in making the guard trust him when her curiosity became too much for her to remain hidden. Silently she stepped out into view. The guard looked past the stallion and stood at attention while Luna approached them. Reaching out a hoof, she gently touched the cloaked ponies back making him spin around.

“P-Princess!” he exclaimed. “What brings you here?”

“I should ask you the same thing,” said Luna eyeing him curiously. “You shouldn’t be down here.”

“I know that but… Hey, you know, perhaps you can help me out here.”

“Me?” asked Luna, taken aback.

“That’s right.” The stallion perked up. “I may not be able to go down there, but you can.”

Luna looked suspiciously at him. His red eyes showed sure determination. She wasn’t sure about this. For one thing she didn’t know what he was after and the Unicorn’s Guild weren’t exactly well respected as casters. Her father had once come back from a meeting he had with the head of the guild in a fury of rage.

“Those fools!” he said slamming one of his books shut. “They have no idea what they’re thinking! Taking such actions wouldn’t solve anything!”

She and her big sister didn’t hear anymore of their fathers rant since one of the staff took that moment to escort her and Celestia out of his study. Now here she stood with the newest member of the guild. Being asked to do something that she knew very little about and wasn’t sure if she should. The stallion took her hoof making her look up at him.

“Princess, I give you my word. I will return it once I’m done.”

“I-I’m not sure,” said Luna looking away as her stomach and chest felt like she was going into a dive from one of her flights. “I mean, how do I know you won’t steel anything?”

“Look at me,” requested the stallion.

Luna looked back at the stallion not realizing how so close he was. It felt like their snouts might touch at any moment. For an added touch the Earth Pony had removed his hood to reveal his black mane. His ruby eyes stared right into her aqua ones. His face remained straight as they stared at each other for a good five seconds.

“I promise Princess,” he said at last refusing to break eye contact. “I will return the thing I seek once I’m done with it. And if there is a chance of it not being down there, I will leave the matter alone.”

She didn’t know what made her do it, but before she knew it, the Princess of the Night felt her head nod slowly in response.

“F-fine,” she said almost in a mumble. “I suppose I can have a look. What is it you seek?”

The stallion grinned at her making her chest do another summersault. The guard behind them stayed at attention. Still, Luna could have sworn that he was watching carefully incase the stallion tried anything funny. To Luna’s surprise the Earth Pony moved his head forward. Before she could push away, she heard him whisper,

“The thing I’m looking for is in the catacombs. From what the rest of the guild have told me, it’s a black book with the image of a crystal on the cover.”

He brought his head back, released Luna’s hoof, put his hood back up and with a bow left. But not without saying very clearly so the guard could her him.

“Well, I’ll leave you to your studies then Princess! I should get back to packing my things. Since his majesty and the Queen are back on their hooves, I see no reason to stick around any longer!”

Luna staid where she was, her hoof was still raised, dangling awkwardly. She touched her chest feeling something inside it pound. Her eyes still wore a look of shock from the unexpected move the Earth Pony took. Was he out of his mind? Behaving that way in front of royalty was to her not only inappropriate, but would have anyone sent to the dungeon in an instant. The guard rolled his eyes and pounded his spear loudly knocking Luna back to earth. Unbeknownst to the Night Princess, her face had turned so red that an egg could have been cooked on them.

“W-what? Sorry, what was that?” she asked still flustered.

“I said, will your highness be going below for her nightly studying?”

“S-studying? Right, yes! Studying! I will do just that!”

The guard snorted once before standing aside to allow Luna to head down the staircase into the catacombs below. Reaching the bottom of the stairs she started down the long corridor until she reached the room where a lot of forbidden books and artifacts were kept. The eerie blue light from the ceiling shun down over the shelves making the jars, parts of silver on chests sparkle. Luna moved down the isles passing scrolls and rows upon rows of chests and jars that had a type of powdery substance in them. Finally at the back of the room, she came across the books she had pulled out thinking that there might be something in them to help her with training to raise the moon and stars. To her disappointment she found nothing that would be of any use. Looking down at the opened book she saw the page she had last left off on. The chapter title was, ‘Myths and Legends’. Even though the room had the dim blue light, visibility was scarce, so she had brought a lantern down with her the last time she had been inside the quiet room. Using the light from the lantern, Luna went over the remaining shelves looking at the spines of each book. There were many colored books, but only one looked black. Or at least the little color that remained did. Levitating the book, she blew the dust off and looked at the cover. There was no image of a crystal on it. Sighing Luna proceeded down the isles flying up to the top shelf then back to the bottom. Once she was done with her search, she headed back up empty handed. But her head was filled with questions she was dying to ask. If the book was down there, why did the Unicorn Guild want it? What was so important about it? And what would they plan to do once they had found out what they wanted to know? The questions and more followed her all the way to the top of the stairs.

The guard stepped aside to let Luna through and told her that everyone was headed to the dinning room for the feast. Thanking the guard, Luna headed down the hall and made her way to the sound of excited talking. The staff were dressed for occasion as well and bowed to her as she passed by. Inside the dinning room, the King and Queen were talking animatedly to the guests while Celestia was talking to the cloaked stallion that had lowered his hood once again. From the looks of it, he, like the rest of the diners, appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself. Luna approached the long table and took her seat beside her big sister. It was strange, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to look the guild member. Even when he glanced behind Celestia to see her, Luna felt her cheeks growing red again and she quickly turned her attention to the smorgasbord before her and added a couple pieces of this and that to her plate.

“Where have you been?” asked Celestia finally turning away from the stallion to notice her little sister.

“Looking for the new pony.” Luna replied not meeting her sister’s eyes.

“I found him,” said Celestia. “He was wondering around upstairs.

“Why didn’t you call for me?”

“I did, but you didn’t answer.”

At this, Luna grew silent and began wolfing down her breaded vegetable rolls. The cloaked Earth Pony was describing where he was from with Clover the Clever who listened with deep interest.

“Fascinating!” he said nodding at the idea of an Empire being made out of crystals. “I would love to visit one day when its finished! It sounds incredible!”

“I don’t know about that,” said the guild member plainly. “But it is promised to be quite a sight once the castle is complete. After that, the construction of the rest of the Empire should begin.”

The two continued to talk about how the building preparations for some time. Surprisingly the guild member answered all the questions being thrown at him in the best way he could.

“So, what’s your plans on electing a ruler?”

“A ruler eh?” asked the guild member thoughtfully.

“Yes,” chimed in Princess Platinum after taking a sip of her drink. “An Empire would be nothing without its ruler. So, how about it? Any thoughts on a king or queen?”

“Hmmm,” began the guild member. “If I were to guess, I would say the Crystal Empire would have a Queen. Come to think of it, last I heard, we might have a Queen ready to take the throne once everything is ready!”

There was a sudden sense of excitement in the room at this new piece of news.

“A Queen you say?” said Princess Platinum taking another sip from her goblet. “Who is it?”

“Umm, if I recall correctly…” he pointed a hoof at the King and Queen. “It was another one of your kind your majesties.”

Everyone looked surprised at this.

“What?!” exclaimed Chancellor Puddinghead “Wow, your highness! Your kind sure does have a way of getting to the top!”

“Chancellor,” said Smart Cookie embarrassed. “I think you should take it easy on those drinks.”

“No, it’s quite alright Secretary,” said Queen Star Bright kindly. “The Alicorns do have quite a history when it comes to such things.”

King Night Shade was beside himself. Thinking heavily, he began to wonder if it was possible? Could it be that after all this time, she was going to be crowned as well?

“Um, father? Are you still with us?” came Celestia’s voice.

“What?” asked King Night Shade looking down the table at the curious faces. “Sorry, must have drifted off for a moment.”

“Are you feeling alright?” asked Luna looking worried.

“Yes,” replied King Night Shade reassuringly. “It was probably nothing. I must have been reading to much into it.”

Ignoring the perplexed looks he was being given, he returned to his plate of food. His wife on the other hand continued to eye him thoughtfully. The gears in her head began turning as she began putting the pieces together. The remainder of the feast past with delighted discussions on when the creation of Ponyville would commence. In the end, they settled on an agreement that the building plans would be complete by the beginning of spring. With the promise of a new settlement on the horizon, it was as if the last stressful months had never happened. At the end of dinner, the King and Queen raised their glasses and thanked the guild member for all that he had done. With his ears lowering and growing slightly pink, the Stallion accepted the toast.

“Are you sure you don’t need an escort?” asked Queen Star Bright, after she offered to have a chariot bring him back to the Crystal Empire.

“Oh, there’s no need. I can manage,” replied the stallion. “Another guild member should meet me below the city tomorrow and he’ll teleport us both back then.”

“You’re welcome back anytime!” said King Night Shade happily.

“Thank you my liege,” said the guild member bowing his head in gratitude.

Silence took over for the first time. Suddenly a sudden faint sound of what sounded like music was heard. Opening the balcony doors in the throne room the distant sound of music cheers echoed form the city grounds where the lights in the distance made the city look inviting. Even though the grounds were covered in snow the citizens had gone outside of their homes to celebrate. From the smell of smoke and a bright light that came from the center of the city, it told them that a bond fire had been lit. The music continued to echo across the land. A pair of Royal Guards began to head down to city to make sure things didn’t get out of control. Chancellor Puddinghead made to leave and when she was asked where she was going, she told her Secretary that she was heading down to join in on the fun. King Night Shade looked out at the city then he looked at his two daughters who wore longing looks as they looked out at the city. Queen Star Bright gave him a nod of agreement before he approached the Princesses. By this point it was just the three of them out on the balcony with the guild member who waited by the doors in silence.

“You know,” began Night Shade addressing his daughters. “It does look like fun down there. Why don’t you two go on and enjoy yourselves.”

“R-really?” exclaimed Celestia looking excited. “You mean it?”

“Go on, you two have earned it!” said Star Bright sweetly. “New pony, why don’t you join them?”

The guild member considered the invite for a moment before he thought it would be a good time to ask Luna if she had found the book he was instructed to find. The stallion nodded his head in response and approached the two Princesses. He offered his hoof to Luna.

“Shall we Princess?” he asked with a faint smile.

Luna felt her face begin to redden again. Celestia looked at her little sister and rolled her eyes.

“Go on Luna,” she said nudging the Princess of the Night.

Blushing furiously she took the stallions hoof and allowed him to escort her to the front doors where they would begin to make their way down to the city. Celestia smiled after them, and wondered who should she take as a dance partner. Her eyes met Snap Shot who was also watching Luna and the Earth Pony leaving with what looked like surprise written on in face. Celestia held back the temptation to laugh as she reached the Captain and held out her hoof.

“Well,” she said to him patiently.

“What?” he asked seriously. “You want somepony to accompany you as well? Very well, let me see if I can find somepony.”

Sighing, Celestia took the Captain’s hoof and marched down the halls with him questioning why he was being dragged along for the ride. Celestia laughed as they reached the front doors and opened them.

“Princess, I don’t think I should. I mean my job is here in the castle! I…”

“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud Captain Grump!” Celestia said happily.

She let go of the Captain and kicked off the ground to hover inches above the armored Pegasus. “Come on, I think you need this most of all! Why not humor your Princess for just one night?”

“Because your idea of humor can be questionable,” said Snap Shot looking up at the smiling Alicorn.

“I’m being serious Snap!” said Celestia, looking back at the young Captain. “Trust me, you’ll thank me latter! Now come on! Luna will already be there by now and we don’t want to miss the best dance numbers!”

Snap Shot looked up at the Princess of the Day and a small smile formed as he too spread his wings and kicked off the ground.

“That’s the spirit!” yelled Celestia cheerfully. “Let’s go! I think I hear a good one starting up!”

Like a cannon ball that had just been fired from a cannon, Celstia shot off down the street with Snap Shot trailing after her. He couldn’t understand why, but he was growing to like this side of Celestia. When they arrived at the bond fire, the way her body, flowing pink mane and tail and golden jewelry were illuminated by the firelight, it made her more beautiful than he would have ever thought possible. Luna bowed to a nearby Pegasus and together they began to dance. Another Earth Pony had taken the guild member and started a type of two-step that he followed with ease. Snap Shot joined in once Celestia was done with her first dance partner and together they danced amongst the rest of the citizens. The Royal Guards who had come down to keep an eye on things clapped their hooves together matching the rhythm of the music and cheered their Captain on.

“Where’s all this coming from?” Celestia asked grinning at him as she twirled. “I thought things like this were of no interest to the mighty Captain…”

“Will you quit teasing me already,” Snap Shot said grinning back. “And I thought you wanted me to humor you tonight? So, here I am your highness.”

Celestia returned his smile and the two of them quickened their dancing to the point where they had to fly above the crowd in order to continue their duet in the sky. The cloaked stallion was beside himself as the song drew to a close and his dance partner was swept away by a husky Unicorn who bowed to her and offered his hoof. He had taken the silent walk to the city as an opportunity to ask Luna if she had found anything in the catacombs. When she had told him that she found nothing, he thanked her for searching and thought it was best to drop the subject and have the first dance with her once they arrived in the city. He had owed her that at least. As he continued to join in on the celebrations he thought that at least he wouldn’t be going back to the Unicorn Guild without a report on the book.

Back on the Balcony of the castle, King Night Shade and Queen Star Bright had waited for the last guard to leave them before the King turned around and looked at a stationary figure crouching above them like a statue.

“It’s alright, you can come down now.”

The figure stood up to his full height before spreading his wings and glided onto the balcony where he went on one knee and bowed to them.

“Your majesties,” he said in a deep but pleasant voice.

“Scorpan,” said Queen Star Bright looking down at the creature who lifted his head to stare back at them. “What brings you back here?”

“I’m afraid traveling ponies are the reason for this unexpected visit,” said Scorpan. “My brother and I…”

“He’s here too?” questioned King Night Shade looking slightly worried.

“Don’t worry. I have told him not to do anything while we are here. You know, There’s no need for unnecessary actions.”

“Scorpan,” said Star Bright patiently, but her eyes said differently; almost as if she was worried. “Your word may not mean anything to him. You do realize that? And if he tries anything, we will be forced to take action.”

“I swear to you, that won’t happen!” Scorpan said reassuringly. “And if it does, I will deal with him.”

“Let us hope it doesn’t have to come to that,” said Night Shade seriously. “Now, what was that about the ponies of Equestria traveling?”

“Ah, you named the region at last have you? Yes, That’s a fine name indeed. Anyways, I’m afraid the ponies have ventured into unwanted territories.”

“Yes, they tend to do that now. But they haven’t caused any harm have they?”

“No, not yet.” and the creature added a little angrily. “But you know how my brother can be.”

“Yes, we do,” said Star Bright. “Please continue.”

“We have traveled to Canterlot in hopes that we… Well, I can ask you to tell the ponies of Equestria to leave our lands alone.”

“We will look into it,” said Star Bright. “In the mean time, you keep your brother from causing any harm to the ponies of Equestria.”

“Thank you your majesty,” said Scorpan with another bow. “Believe me, I will do just that! Oh, if Star Swirl was here, he could help me with doing just that. Speaking of which where is the old fellow?”

King Night Shade exchanged a look with his Queen. Night Shade was about to give the bat like creature the bad news when he looked around expecting to see the old caster emerge from the throne room.

“I haven’t heard from him in ages. That whole mess with an awoken beast must have been something! I hope he came up with a solution. Oh, what am I talking about? Of course he did! It’s him after all! So, where is he?”

The look the King and Queen gave Scorpan made his eager grin subside instantly. His wings fell and his ears dropped. He shook his head in disbelief. It couldn’t have happened. There was no way.

“Scorpan,” said Night Shade sympathetically. “You should come with us… There’s something you need to see.”

Scorpan waited in the shadows of the castle towers until he spotted the King and Queen leaving from the front doors and headed down the castle grounds until they took off to the sky and waited for the big creature to follow them. They flew for what seemed like an hour until they reached the burnt remains of what used to be Star Swirl’s hometown. Scorpan prepared himself for the worst, but when he landed, he ran off to where the old caster’s home used to be. When the King and Queen caught up with him, he was looking at a crumpled and defeated pile of burnt wood, shattered brick and glass. A bit of the houses wall still stood but the rest was spread across the ground covered in snow.

“Are his works…” began Scorpan afraid of the answer.

“His work is safe,” said Night Shade softly.

“And… what about him? Did he…”

“Oh, no. This happened after his passing,” said Star Bright. “He was long gone before his village was attacked.”

Scorpan looked around the destroyed village. Every house, every small shop, had been whipped out. The friendly presence of the ponies living here was to be nothing but a distant memory now. He knelt down and gingerly placed his clawed hand on the snow covered debris.

“I guess that thing had something to do with this?” he said with a snarl.

“Come with us,” said Night Shade placing a hoof on the creatures back. “We’ll explain along the way.”

They led Scorpan to a part of the village far away from the destruction and into a cemetery where those who where buried still remained undisturbed and were spared from the Defilers wrath. They explained how the dragon was released months after the old caster’s departure and how it was up to his apprentice to solve her teacher’s counter spell. When they reached the end of their tale they had reached a part of the cemetery where a single tombstone lied surrounded by dead flowers and a badge of honor given to the old Unicorn wizard by the Unicorn’s Guild. On the tombstone were the words:

“Here lies Star Swirl the Bearded, last descendant of Swirl family. Friendless maybe, but he was the greatest wizard of his time.”

Scorpan sank to his knees and stared at the grave. The words carved into the stone began to grow blurry as he felt his eyes begin to water. He mouthed the word friendless and sank his clawed fingers into his palms.

“Lies,” he said.

For such a huge creature it was amazing that he was able make his deep voice become soft and moving. “That isn’t true Star. You were never alone my old friend.”

He felt the last bit of his bravery wither away as he realized that he had come all this way to the resting place of the first friend he had ever had and he didn’t bring him anything. A soft wing touched his back and he saw that the King and Queen were beside him looking down at the Star Swirl’s grave. The small gust of wind swept across the fields and through their hair. Night Shade let out a sigh and made his horn glow. There was a small pop and a rolled up piece of parchment levitated toward Scorpan who took it. His eyes widened in realization. He knew what this was. It was the last letter he had ever written to the old Unicorn wizard.

“You kept this?” he asked his voice starting to crack. “Why?”

“We were holding onto it until you came along. Don’t worry we haven’t read it. It wouldn’t have felt right. This was his letter to receive and his alone.”

Scorpan untied the red string keeping the letter sealed and unrolled it. He felt his throat begin to ache as he began to read the last letter he had ever sent.

“Dear Star, I know it has been a while since last we spoke. So much has changed here in the land of heat and treacherous mountains. Recently, some of your races have ventured into our lands. I was hoping you could tell me what that’s all about. Tirek says we should be on high alert now, but I think he’s just overreacting as usual.

I do agree with your last letter. If my brother and I wish to be accepted we shan’t let the small things get to us. All the ponies need to do is to talk to us and hopefully we can set things right. Make them see that they have it all wrong. We aren’t just monsters here to frighten them. Well, maybe not all of us.

Anyways I hope all is well in your village. Say hello to everyone for me.

Your friend, Scorpan.”

Something from the creatures face fell onto the piece of paper causing it to form a small damp spot where it had landed. Not wanting anymore harm to come to his letter, Scorpan rolled the piece of parchment back up and tied it shut. He closed his eyes holding back the tears that were fighting to be released. He couldn’t fall apart now. He had to be strong. The Unicorn wizard was getting on in age after all when they first met. Mastering his emotions he placed the letter in the center of the dead flowers and placed a pile of them on top so the rolled up paper wouldn’t be swept away by the wind. Once it was done Queen Star Bright made her horn glow and newly bloomed flowers hovered down to replace the worn out ones. She neatly placed them beside the letter and made sure that the rolled up parchment was lying against the tombstone with two flowers placed carefully behind it.

“You meant a great deal to him,” she said warmly. “I could tell. And he meant the same to you.”

Scorpan couldn’t hold back anymore. At last he let his emotions show and let out a small sigh before tears began running silently down is cheeks where they hit the snowy ground. He stayed like that for some time letting his fallen tears sink into the icy ground at his knees. Finally, he stood and wiped his eyes. The King and Queen took to the sky and waited patiently until Scorpan opened his wings too and lifted himself up into the sky. Together they flew back to Canterlot where he said his goodbyes to the King and Queen before heading back to the mountains outside of the Everfree Forest. He didn’t even answer his brother and Discord when he entered the cave. He simply found his resting place at the farthest end of the cave and let his reddened eyes close.