Notes of Fate

by Noir de Plume

Chapters

• Noir - Concerto
• Armistice - The Opening Move
• Grecio - Masks
• Noir - Strange Bedfellows
• Armistice - Behind the Veil
• Grecio - A Friend Indeed

Noir - Concerto

Noir was bored.

In a city that never slept, over which she had complete creative control, she was bored. Of course, it was hard to be anything but, trapped in the opera box at this concert which she was obligated to attend. The hell was this, anyway? She glanced at the programme: "Young Musicians of Equestria." Ye gods...

Still, being the ornamental figurehead of Manehatten had its perks. She wanted not for bits - the Crown took care of room and board and whatever else her dark little heart desired. As long as Noir kept her... proclivities... in the shadows.

The young mare snuggled at her side nuzzled her neck, murmuring something inaudible. The shimmering black aura of Noir's magic lifted the wine glass to her lips, and the alicorn took a slow sip, flicking an ear as the violinist on stage below hit the sourest of sour notes imaginable.

"How much longer am I required to endure this?" Noir asked with a sigh. The mare snuggled against her further, though to Noir it felt as if she were a parasite attempting to burrow into her chest. She'd seemed fine at dinner, and an amiable concert companion, but once they'd reached the box, the mare had indulged in more than her fair share of cider, and was becoming increasingly less charming.

"Four more performances, my lady."

"Thank you, Grecio."

The diamond dog nodded, remaining at his post near the door. He was short in stature, and almost comical in his finely tailored waistcoat and starched white shirt, but something about his stance warned against testing his mettle. That, and the sword he carried at his belt. Noir stifled a yawn with her good wing.

"Bored?" the mare asked with a half-lidded smile.

Noir looked down at her, arching an eyebrow. The mare's eyeshadow had smeared across her face in a most unflattering way, and Noir fought the urge to stand from the cushions and let the inebriated pony fall to the floor.

"Such is this life, my dear," the Poet Laureate responded with a forced smile. She flicked an ear again as another sour note reached the balcony, followed a thunderous clapping of hooves. "Thank the Sisters that's over," she sighed.

"I know how to make this exciting," the mare - what was her name? - purred, rising on wobbly legs. Noir eyed her as one would an interesting spot on the floor.

"I think it best if we listen sitting down, my dear."

"How can I be out on the town with the Noir de Plume and not have any stories to tell the next day?" the mare continued, her tone seductive. Or, it would have been had her syllibants not slurred together in a gross mockery of language.

The next performer was announced on stage. Soft music rose from a piano.

A piano? Noir thought. No pony in Equestria can possibly-

"Let me help you focus..."  

The mare leaned forward, open mouthed, hungrily going for Noir's horn. Something tickled Noir's brain, something she'd not felt since her time in Canterlot all those centuries ago... She leapt up. The mare crashed to the cushions, face first, with an indignant squawk, haunches in the air most unladylike.

"Grecio!" Noir snapped. The diamond dog was instantly at his mistress' side, eyes on her as she stared intently at the young unicorn seated on stage. "Who is that?"

"Er... it says her name is Armistice, my lady," he replied, pointing to the programme with a claw-tipped finger.

Noir's eyes narrowed. The flow of magic from the stage was so strong, it was nearly intoxicating. The alicorn's head swam as though she'd imbibed a bottle of the Mirror World's finest vintage. The keys depressed as if touched by fingers, yet this cream colored filly named Armistice simply moved her hooves and summoned forth beautiful sounds. How was it possible? Such bliss on her young face as she played, framed by a brunette mane that was both simple and meticulously straight. It fell to her shoulders, and swayed ever so slightly with the subtle motions she made with her torso to send her forehooves across the ivory keys.  Noir was both entranced and baffled. Mesmerized, she sent a faint tendril of magic at the stage, reaching out, to test, to touch, to see... and the eyes of the young pianist snapped up. Their sapphire hue rivaled the icey blue of Noir's own, and the artfully applied eyeliner the young filly wore would have looked silly on anypony else, but only accentuated her jes ne sais quois. Her head did not move, and the steady gaze that locked with Noir's sent a chill rolling from the base of her skull to the very tuft of her strange, lion-like tail.

"Fetch her. And bring her to me," she commanded, shaking her head to clear the sensation. Noir reached back and adjusted the half cape she wore with her teeth, ensuring her left wing was covered. Grecio extended a hand up. "No. I'll be fine. I can manage it home on my own." She offered the diamond dog a kind smile. So loyal. Noir reminded herself every day how much she truly owed him.

On the floor, the mare had gathered herself into a bundle and made another indignant noise.

"So, you're, like, just going to leave me here?" she asked, eyes wide, a look of sheer disbelief on her face. Noir paused in the doorway, looking back at the mare. She titled her head and leveled her with a cold stare.

"I'm trying to decide what I find more unattractive," Noir began. "How easily you were being led to stable, or how awful that braying sound coming from your mouth is."

The mare's jaw snapped shut. Noir nodded curtly at Grecio.

"Make sure this one gets home." Noir snapped her good wing in an annoyed gesture and exhaled through her nostrils as her brain began to churn a thousand thoughts at once. The filly's cutie mark was burned into her cornea; sapphire rose facing outward, petals parted, but still closed enough to be innocent and coy. The mark had seemed to be alive, reflecting the lights of the stage, interacting with the environment. "Armistice," she murmured. How do you wield such subtle power at such a young age? And how do you smell of the Mirror?

"A filly?! You're ditching me for a filly?!" the mare squealed. "She's barely be of age! I heard you were into some twisted shit, but you can't be into something that-"  

"Sleep." Grecio waved a gray paw before the mare's snout, and her eyes drooped once, twice, and the drunken pony crumpled to the floor in a snoring tangle of legs. Noir drew herself up and smiled. The diamond dog offered her one of his rare, toothy grins. "Thought it best before my lady did something that would take me hours to clean up."

"You are my hero, Grecio," Noir purred, dropping her front half in a mock curtsy. "Every day, I am more and more thankful I schooled you in basic spells."  The diamond dog bowed, then waved her away with both paws.

"Go. I will handle... her." He kicked at the snoring pile of pony. Noir nodded.

Music rose from the stage and reached the alicorn's ears. She flicked them.

The crescendo was starting.

Armistice - The Opening Move

            "Here?" Armistice asked as they came to a stop before the tallest high rise in Manehattan's skyline. Grecio nodded.

"Yes. My Lady Noir's penthouse is the top floor."

Armistice titled her head back to stare up the side of the smooth glass structure. It shimmered in the city lights, the reflective surface throwing thousands of twinkling stars back at the onlooker.

"I am honored that your city's patron wishes a private audience with me," she smiled. "My performance must have really impressed her." The diamond dog stepped forward and pressed a paw flat against a smooth black panel on the door. Armistice noted the strange scar on the inside of his forearm - deep, gnarled, like a burn, as though someone had taken a molten hot object and drawn the sign for infinity into his fur and flesh. He caught her staring. The young pianist flushed.

"This way," he said simply as the doors silently opened.

Armistice followed him in. The lobby was ornately decorated with exotic plants and an elegant water fountain. The soft lighting and trickling of the fountain gave it a peaceful atmosphere.  Her hooves made clicking sounds on the obsidian floor tiles. Armistice felt somewhat humbled. There was money living here.

"She lives at the top?" the unicorn asked with wonder. Grecio smiled toothily, something Armistice did not find threatening, surprisingly. For all his gruff appearance and the reputation of his kind, the diamond dog had been nothing but the perfect gentleman. Still, this had not stopped her from surreptitiously casting Harm None when he appeared in the green room after her performance. Her mother had not raised a fool.

"Noir de Plume's official title is Manehattan's Poet Laureate," he explained, motioning for her to enter the elevator. She obliged, delighting in the plush carpeting. "More a figurehead than a true leadership position," he continued, depressing the button for the top floor.

"I've never heard of such a thing," Armistice replied, flicking an ear as she adjusted her brunette tail - long and straight, but the ends were wild and untamed.

"Nor will you," Grecio said, paws folded behind his back. "Hers is a unique situation."

They rode the rest of the way in silence, the car coming to a smooth stop.

"We are here," he announced as the doors opened.

Armistice's jaw dropped.

The space was vast, far larger than it had any mathematical right to be. The ceiling vaulted up, and up, and up, vanishing into a spiraling darkness that she swore she could see stars in. To her left was a wall made entirely of glass, and Manehattan's cityscape lay shimmering before her - so small from so high up. The moon stared impassively down at them through a clear sky. To the right was a massive fireplace, the blaze contained within so hot the heat licked at Armistice's face from across the large room. The decor - silver, red, white, and black - was sparse, large cushions organized meticulously across from each other that appeared to be made from the softest crushed velvet. The floor was the same ornate obsidian tile as the lobby, with fine silver filagree woven between the natural cracks in the stone.

"Welcome," a voice said warmly, tinged with amusement. Armistice snapped her head up, alert, and blinked. Once, twice.

Noir was... tall. Taller than she, but not quite a mare - her development seemed to be somewhere between fully mature alicorn and filly. Her mane was blonde, kept short and close along her neck, with a ruffled, wild crop that sat about her ears and horn. The same color graced the tuft at the end of her strange, lion-like tail. The white of her coat was not that of a snowfall, or fresh milk, but of bleached bone, and her horn and hooves shimmered with an opalescent hue. Her wings were folded at her sides, and Armistice could not help but wonder why the left was kept tightly bandaged. It seemed smaller than the right, and there was the faintest tinge of blood soaking through the cloth. The alicorn kept her fetlocks unshorn in the manner of stallion. As she entered the main room and walked past Armistice to take a seat on one of the cushions, the young unicorn saw the marks on her flanks. Sunken in, like a brand, they were almost like the scar on Grecio's arm. They may once have held color; black, writhing vines in the shape of an ornate compass bespoke of her talent, though Armistice could not determine what it might be.

What happened to you? she wondered.

"Please," Noir continued, gesturing with her horn to the other cushion, "sit." When she smiled Armistice swore she saw a hint of fangs. Hesitantly, she crossed the floor to take a cushion facing the alicorn. "May I get you anything?"

"Ah, I'm-"

"Water? Wine? Cider? You must be parched after such a wonderful display of talent," the alicorn interrupted as though Armistice had not spoken. "I choose wine, myself. A vice most ponies do not indulge. You look as you might enjoy something.... sweeter." Noir's horn glowed.

At the alicorn's side, on a table, a quill hovered to life, an aura of shimmering black controlling the feather, dipping it into a nearby inkwell, and moving it soundlessly across a sheet of paper.  Armistice made a surprised sound as a glass of cider popped into existence before her muzzle. She caught it just in time with her magic, a light blue aura that threw a soft glow on her creamy face.

"That..."

"Is my talent," Noir finished, curling her tail about her body. "Whatever I write, comes to be." With a hidden expression, she watched the unicorn in silence for several moments. "You are powerful."

Armistice looked at her over the rim of her glass, mid-sip.

"To master such an instrument without the use of magic... and to notice me noticing you..." the alicorn purred. "Who are you, little one?"

Armistice did not feel so at ease anymore.

"You shouldn't have interrupted me while I was playing," she answered after a while, gently setting the glass down. Noir tilted her head, looking amused.

"No?" The alicorn rose suddenly. Armistice tensed, but Noir stepped towards the glass wall, using her magic to bring a glass of wine to her lips.

"No," the pianist said, frowning, still tense. "It was distracting."

"Was it..." Noir's words trailed off as she stared out over the cityscape. Armistice frowned again.

"Why am I here?" she asked. "Your dog said you wanted to talk to me, but all we've done so far is play social back and forth."

"His name is Grecio," Noir said tersely, lashing her tail. "And you would do well to speak his name with respect." A heavy silence fell over the room. "He has served me for over four hundred years."

"And bound to her until she leaves this world," the diamond dog said solemnly, appearing at her side, resting a paw on her bandaged wing. Noir dipped her head to rest her cheek against his.

"How...?" Armistice asked. "You're an alicorn, he can't possibly-"

"I'm five hundred years old," Noir cut her off, still resting her face against Grecio's. She closed her eyes, as though suddenly weary. "And I was not always an alicorn."

Grecio - Masks

          He felt the pain her words caused her, the great weariness that weighed her down. Grecio raised his paw to rest it on his mistress' bandaged wing. It radiated heat.

"How were you-" Armistice began, her tone puzzled. Noir sighed, lifting her head, turning back to face the young unicorn. Grecio took a step to remain at her side, paw still on her wing. He felt the bandage moisten. His lady Noir was bleeding again.

"Sunset Shimmer was not our great leader's first failure," the alicorn said with a sardonic smile. The bitter grin confirmed Armistice's earlier suspicions - Noir did indeed have fangs. Two sharp incisors glistened in the light of the roaring fire. Grecio watched as the unicorn's expression remained impassive, but she could not hide the surprise in her large, kohl-rimmed eyes. "That title," Noir continued, "goes to me."

"You were Celestia's student," Armistice murmured as Noir took several silent steps towards her. The young filly craned her neck up to look at the taller mare, thin, lithe and tired.

"Yes. Her first. The very first," Noir said, slowly settling down on the cushion next to Armistice. Grecio remained at his position near the window, eying the weeping bandage with growing concern. "Twenty five years after Princess Luna lost her mind to the Nightmare and was exiled to the Moon, Celestia sent scouts to all corners of Equestria, seeking talent. They came to my small village. I was just a filly..." Noir looked towards the fire, the flames catching her icey blue eyes. The effect was haunting. "They brought me back to the Royal Palace, with my mother's permission, of course... and the rest is history." Another smile, this time sad, crossed her lips.

Grecio felt his heart break. He knew her story; she'd told him in those fever days after he'd found her, during the weeks he'd nursed her back to health. And still, every time the words passed her lips, her pain was his.

"The capital had moved to Canterlot at that point," Noir sighed, tucking her forelegs tightly beneath her. Armistice remained still. "I spent years studying magic under Celestia's tutelage. As I showed you, my talent is to bring things into existence. The Princess wished for me to become like her."

"She wanted to make you an alicorn?" Armistice asked with wonder. Noir nodded.

"In the beginning, the Creator made One. Celestia was alone. When the Sun and Moon were too much for One, Celestia beseeched the Creator for another. Thus came Luna. When the Sisters were old enough, the Creator departed, leaving them under the guidance of Starswirl the Bearded."

"I know Equestria's Origin," Armistice interrupted. Noir arched an eyebrow.

"With Luna gone," she continued, as though Armistice had not spoken, "Celestia had become lonely. Faced with millenia alone... why not create Princesses of her own?" The alicorn flinched and Grecio made a move forward, but Noir shook her head. He frowned, but remained put. "I was to be the Princess of Histories. The castle in Everfree Forest was to be restored and restaffed. I was to write into existence adventures and tales for ponies to undertake. I was to make Equestria's heroes."

"What happened...?" Armistice asked after a long silence. Grecio saw her reach out a hoof hesitantly. He tensed, hand on the hilt of his sword, and relaxed when Noir allowed the younger pony to set her hoof gently on her foreleg.

"I noted my teacher's loneliness," Noir said sadly, meeting Armistice's eyes for the first time that evening. They were pools of raw emotion. Sadness. Betrayal. Anger. It made the unicorn uncomfortable. "She missed her sister. Deeply. So I worked on a spell in my spare time to save her." Here, she smiled sadly. "I found a magic nopony had touched for centuries... a magic not restricted to alicorns or unicorns, a magic forbidden and hidden but still usable to those who could open their minds and read the runes. I only needed the power and open plane of my Ascension to access the Aether between Equestria and the Moon, and I could bring Princess Luna home."

"Oh no..." Armistice said softly, her eyes crinkling at the corner. "You didn't." Noir nodded solemnly.

"So convinced was Celetstia of my success that my coronation was scheduled. My Royal accoutrements were constructed out of the finest onyx and silver. She showed me, proudly, and I smiled, all the while imagining how wonderful of a surprise it would be when I returned from the Ascension with not only my wings, but her sister as well."

Grecio watched a single tear roll down his mistress' muzzle.

"I did not anticipate the Nightmare to be hovering above the Aether. When I unleashed my spell... it corrupted my transformation, and I was cursed with the form you see now." She motioned with her head to her bandaged wing, the cloth now bright red with blood. Armistice gasped.

"You're hurt!"

"It never stops," the alicorn replied. "It tries to heal. It can't." She shifted her weight, and raised her head. "Grecio..."

The diamond dog stood at attention.

"Show her."

"My lady?" he asked. Noir nodded.

"Show her," she repeated.

He came to her side, and knelt, tenderly undoing the bandages with his paws. As he worked, Noir continued to speak.

"The backlash of dark magic and the power of the Ascension threw me thousands of miles away into a wasteland... which is where I met Grecio." She winced as he tugged at a piece of cloth.

"Apologies, my lady."

"He saved my life," she murmured, bowing her head as he stepped away, exposing her shame. Armistice made a noise.

The wing was ghastly - grossly deformed, with exposed bone and gnarled flesh, the primary feathers coated in dried blood. Noir moved it pitifully.

"For four hundred and eighty seven years, I have borne this monstrosity," she whispered. Armistice shook her head in horror.

"Why not use your talent?! Why not write your wing into being whole?" she exclaimed.

"My magic does not work on myself," the alicorn replied sadly. She made a pained face as she refolded the deformity back against her side. "When I returned with Grecio to Canterlot, Celestia had no choice but to deny me my Princesshood. I had betrayed her."

"My lady writes the high society drama of Manehattan," Grecio offered, seeing how weary his mistress was becoming. "She keeps the masses of Equestria entertained. In exchange, the Crown keeps her room and board."

"And throttles my magic," the alicorn added bitterly. " 'The pony everypony should know,' "she snorted. "Really." She made another pained face. "Celestia hides me here like a dirty secret so no one knows how badly she fucked up. She has Twilight Sparkle to parade as a grand success now."

"My lady," Grecio tried.

"No!" Noir shouted angrily. "I'm tired of being the failure!"

"You are exhausted and in pain," the diamond dog said evenly, placing both his paws on either side of her muzzle as Armistice stirred nervously on her cushion. "We have a guest. An honored guest. Please..." He gently stroked along the ridges of her orbital bones with his thumbs. "Rest now."

Armistice watched with wonder as the alicorn's head drooped slowly to her chest, and the diamond dog set her tenderly down on the cushion. Noir's chest rose and fell with the meter of slumber.

"You'll have to excuse her," Grecio said apologetically to Armistice. "She is excitable and emotional and often forgets manners." He smiled kindly. Armistice returned the smile. "The hour is late, and my lady did have an actual matter to discuss with you. While I am happy to escort you back to your hotel, there is a guest room prepared. Would you care to stay?"

Grecio watched the unicorn weigh the options in her mind. Noir was clearly unbalanced - a powerful creature, surely, but unbalanced. When he saw those sapphire eyes soften, though, he knew she saw how damaged and fragile his mistress was, and how badly she needed a friend. Armistice nodded.

"I'll stay."

The diamond dog grinned and bowed deeply.

"This way."

Noir - Strange Bedfellows

               Her sleep was fitful, full of aches and memories. Reminiscing so much before slumber brought up vivid visions of the past, and Noir was a lucid dreamer. She was back in the cave, could feel the cold, hard rock beneath her body, the screaming pain in the growth protruding from her left side, smell the wet moist mass being shoved between her lips.

"Please, horse lady... must eat."

The voice was gravelly, but imploring. Noir cracked a swollen eyelid to stare at the gray fuzzy blur kneeling at her face. The substance was pressed against her teeth once more. Her teeth... felt... odd. She ran her tongue along them, and winced. Sharp.

"Please." The blur slowly came into focus, and Noir forced her other eye open. It screamed its protest in silent rage, sending rivulets of pain deep within her socket.

It was a diamond dog, no more than a pup just weaned, eagerly offering her a hunk of bloody meat. Clad in the tattered rags of its kind, a collar spoke of its status amongst its clan - slave. Its green eyes were large and bright and flecked with gold, and when it noticed her looking at it, it grinned toothily, tail wagging spastically.

"Awake! Awake!" it said excitedly. "Not awake for days! So worried!" it gushed. Noir moved to sit up, and the diamond pup waved a paw frantically. "No no no pretty horse lady not move!" Again the meat was thrust into her face. "Eat!"

It smelled acrid. It looked raw. But Noir's stomach chose that moment to voice its opinion... loudly, and the pup giggled. Reluctantly, she raised her head and took a bite, finding her new fangs tore the flesh quite easily. The meat felt slimy and tough in her mouth. Her throat closed and she felt her gorge rise. The eager, proud look on the pup's face was the only thing that made her swallow. It offered it again, and she accepted, repeating the motions until the hunk was gone. It sat back on its haunches, watching her intently.

"I find topside. Pretty horse lady there... all red on white furs." Its face turned sad. "Not moving, here." It tapped its chest. "I drag to cave, out of sun. Bring water. Every day, when bright and dark come."

"How long...?" Noir asked. The diamond dog tilted its head. She winced as her head began to pound. "How many brights and darks?" Its face lit up with understanding. It splayed its front paws, all ten digits, then, sat on its rump to use its back feet, then flashed one front paw again. Noir's heart sank.

Twenty five days...

She felt hot tears gather in her eyes. She had failed. Luna remained on the moon, and she was gods knew where, barely alive, injured, and half-changed. The Nightmare had done something to her, she could feel it; it was all she had been able to do to fight it back when it attacked her in the Aether.

I will never be a Princess now...

The tears rolled down her cheeks. The pup made a distressed sound.

"No... no no. Too pretty. Please..." it beseeched, scooting forward on its rump to gently touch her muzzle with its cold little nose. Noir flinched at the contact, but the pup did not react. "Horn so shiny, feet so shiny, like gems," it continued. "Not cry."

How could she possibly explain to this simple beast what she had stood to gain and lost? Yet, here it tried to comfort her. Its small paw reached up to touch her horn.

"I go. I come back at bright. Yes?"

She nodded. It grinned again, wagging its tail.

"I bring special meat!"

It returned many hours later. Noir had a poor sense of the passing of time, so far back was she in the cave that the light from the outside did not reach her. She heard it before she saw it, scuffling and shuffling of paws. It carried a torch this time, and she sat up slowly, finding that her body did not ache as much as it did before. It waved.

"Awake! So happy to see awake!" it announced, dropping a sack on the ground. Noir shifted her forelegs around to sit more comfortably on the stone ground, folding her right wing close against her body, keeping the left... thing... as limp as possible to prevent it from causing her pain.

"What did you bring?" she asked. It beamed at her as it dug in the sack.

"Meats!" it grinned, brandishing a big, fat rat. Noir masked her horror.

Oh gods, is that what I ate?

"I catch myself," it announced, clearly proud.

"Oh... good," Noir said, forcing a smile. She owed this creature her life. Manners, girl, manners. Canterlot court training came back in full force.

"I hide from leader. For pretty horse lady, I say to self," it told her, thumping chest. "Leader beat, know I have, but I still hide."

Noir's heart tinged. This creature had lied and taken punishment for her.

"What is your name, little one?" she asked gently as the pup gutted the rat. It blinked.

"Name?" it echoed. She nodded, smiling, hoping her fangs were not frightening. It tilted its head again. "Grecio."

"I'm Noir," she replied. Grecio smiled so widely she thought his face would split in two.

"Is Noir... friend?"

"Yes, Grecio. We are friends."

The joy on his face made her feel dead inside.

Day by day, Noir grew stronger, and she was eventually able to walk. Grecio brought her rats and water, and sometimes the odd handful of grass when he could find it. She longed for a bath, but that would have to wait until she returned to Canterlot. If she returned to Canterlot. Diamond dog territory was vast, and Grecio's powers of description were limited. She could be anywhere. The backlash of dark magic with the unwoven power of her Ascension could have flung her to the other side of the sphere Equestria sat on.

She was able to take a full assessment of her transformation: one good wing, one malformed, pearly white fur now bland and dull. Her tail was that of a griffon's, which she took delight in lashing furiously from side to side to see how much wind she could whip up. The fangs took getting used to, as she still bit her tongue now and then when speaking. Grecio giggled as she occasionally had a lisp. It was a temporary inconvenience, she was sure; Celestia would fix everything when she got back and explained. She may not have passed the test, but certainly the Princess would not allow her to remain a monstrosity for the millenia her life would now be.

One dark, the pup did not come. Noir paced the entrance of the cave nervously. She depended on him still for water and food, the mountainous regions unfamiliar to her, the plants foreign. The sun sank beneath the horizon, and its twin slowly rose in the sky. He still did not come. Noir became frantic with worry. She lay at the mouth of the cave, ears flat, despondent.

A rock fell.

She lifted her head.

It was followed by a high pitched yelp. She raised an ear. The yelping grew louder, and with it were voices, deeper angry voices. Noir scrambled to her hooves, ducking just inside the cave entrance. The yelping sounded like Grecio. She receded further into the shadows.

"Here?" a gruff growl demanded. There a silence, then the sound of flesh on flesh, and another yelp. "Here?" the demand came again.

"Smells like pony," another voice offered, this one more nasal. From over the ledge came three full grown diamond dogs. Two trailed behind what was clearly the Alpha, who has Grecio by the ear. Noir began to tremble.

"You hide it here?" the Alpha roared. "Stupid whelp!" He twisted the pup's ear violently and Grecio whimpered, tears in his eyes. "Whole time, we can eat, take horn, take hooves." The Alpha raised his hand to deliver another blow.

Do something do something do something! she screamed at herself.

Panic. Her breath came in short rasps. She was no fighter. Her magic was powerless against foes. There wasn't a single thing her talent was good for in this -

Like a key in a lock, the tumblers fell in sequence.

Noir reached back with her teeth and ripped a primary feather from her good wing. Spitting it on the ground, she then bit savagely at her foreleg until blood ran freely and pooled on the rock. Using her magic, the shimmering black aura lifted the feather, dipped the tip in her still warm blood, and began to scrawl hastily on the cave wall.

"Leave him alone," she said loudly, stepping out of the shadows. The diamond dogs stared, the Alpha male dropping his hand. Grecio's face fell. The Alpha snorted.

"She has horn like jewels," he roared. Noir inclined her head. The Alpha male blinked, dropping Grecio to the ground, and clutched suddenly at his throat.

"Come to me," Noir told Grecio.

The pup scrambled to his feet and ran to her side. Noir enfolded him in her good wing protectively. The other two diamond dogs stared at their pack leader as he continued to claw at his throat, gasping, his eyes beginning to bulge. Noir took a step forward.

"I've never seen someone die from asphyxiation before," she said conversationally. Her tone was cold. The Alpha locked eyes with her, and the look he found gave him no hope. "I've read about it in books... when the brain does not get enough of the vital element in the air it needs to survive, and just... shuts... off..." She flicked her tail in his face. Spittle had begun to run from his slack jaws.  Noir's eyes gleamed wickedly. "I also read someponys find the sensation... erotic." Here, she cast a glance down at his nether regions, and laughed. "Hard to tell; you are a dog. Tell me, do you lust for a bitch of your pack?" She turned and offered her plot teasingly as the Alpha made an enraged noise.

           Noir continued to walk, Grecio molded to her side. "I am leaving," she announced to the other two, paying them no mind as she strolled past. "And I am taking him with me."

They looked at each other, then to their struggling Alpha, then back to Noir. She cast a glance back over her shoulder and lifted her chin. The Alpha made a gurgling sound and dropped to the ground. She narrowed her eyes.

"Do not follow me."

Armistice - Behind the Veil

            Sleep was evasive for her that night.

It was not for lack of comfort - the bed, low to the ground and soft, was so comfortable Armistice almost forgot she was laying on anything at all. The room Grecio had shown her to was decorated in the most soothing of themes: a star scape that could only have been inspired by Canterlot's own Princess Luna. The ceiling and walls were all the deepest blue, embedded in them twinkled tiny white gems, illuminated by a light source Armistice could not locate. The bed was a circular cushion, much like the ones in the front room, only upholstered in a smooth silk that remained cool to the touch no matter how long Armistice lay upon it. It was blue, like the walls and ceiling, but shimmered when she poked it with her hoof. Gauze drapery hung from a hook in the ceiling to enshroud the cushion, giving it a cozy feeling. Candles hovered in the air, bathing the room in the softest of light. A large window overlooked the Manehattan skyline.

It was enchanting.

Armistice turned to lay on her stomach, head on her forelegs, and sighed through her nose. At 19 summers, she had seen much of the world, more so than anyone else from her empire, and she could not help but get the sense that, for all of Noir's age... the alicorn was not as experience in life as Armistice was. She had played for the king and queen of Saddle Arabia, entertained the elusive leaders of the Deerfolk, even performed for the normally combative minotaur who inhabited the lands surrounding Tartarus. Noir had spent nearly five hundred years in one city.

Heaving another sigh, the young unicorn flopped onto her back, illuminating her horn and sending one of the floating candles dancing across the room. She kicked a hoof absently, watching the candle twirl.

Magic came naturally to her people. Millenia ago, when Celestia had assumed the throne, the leaders of her empire had declined the offer to join the newly formed kingdom called Equestria. Fearing interference from the crown, they had established a barrier around the perimeters of their land, shielding the existence of their home and their people from the outside world. No one entered. Only those who obtained express permission and swore to a series of oaths were allowed to leave. It was customary for colts and fillies of her age to take a "knowledge quest" to observe the ways of the Others, and to bring back new ideas in science and art. This kept the empire from stagnating, and allowed them to preserve the elements of the medieval society that made her home so very unique.

She divided the candle into two, stretching the flame into a bridge between the wicks.

Armistice had left three winters ago. Her musical skills were unique among even her people, and she craved what any artist did: an audience to share her work with. There were only so many concerts she could hold before everypony in the empire had witnessed her skills, and she no longer stunned and surprised. Having completed the mandatory schooling her empire required earlier than her classmates, she petitioned the Council, obtained permission from her family, and set out into the world of the Others.

Noir was disturbed. Noir was also powerful. To wield alicorn magic before Ascending was certainly something notable. Were it not for the Nightmare's interference on her spell... she very well might have succeeded in bringing the marooned Princess home. Armistice allowed the candles to merge back into one, and float back to its original position.

An interesting smell caught her attention. It was sharp, and sweet, with a hint of smokiness. Curious, the unicorn hopped off the cushion and pushed the door open with her hoof. Not as if she was getting any rest to begin with. It seemed to be coming from down the hall... She arched an eyebrow and a faint blue line shimmered in the air.

That way, she thought with a smile, trotting softly down the carpeted corridor.

The blue glimmer led her to a pair of large glass doors, sitting wide open, that opened onto a stone balcony. Leaning against the railing was the diamond dog, Grecio. He had his arms folded, facing the city, the light breeze blowing his ears and fur back. He no longer wore his waistcoat or starched white shirt; instead, he was clad in a loose, simple tunic that was open at the chest. Armistice stepped forward slowly and quietly. Grecio raised a rolled bit of paper that had a glowing ember at the end to his mouth, and inhaled.

"Did I wake you?" he asked, not turning his head. Armistice shook hers in response.

"No. I... I can't sleep." The diamond dog blew a slow lungful of smoke into the night. The smell was the same smokey sweet smell Armistice had detected before.

"I should never had brought you back here," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. Armistice furrowed her brow.

"Why?" She took a step closer, one hoof slightly raised. The breeze felt good on her skin, lifting her mane from her shoulders. Grecio turned to face her. His eyes her pained.

"She thinks you can help her," he said, his voice thick. Armistice titled her head. Grecio laughed sharply, more of a bark. "You're just a filly. And Noir's finally gone mad..." He took another drag on the clove and closed his eyes, trying to center himself. Armistice put both her hooves on the balcony railing to stand on her hind legs and be at his height.

"May I?" she asked, indicating the clove.

Grecio looked at her, startled, but offered it to her. She illuminated her horn, delicately drawing the clove to her mouth and taking a slow, even hit. She exhaled, eyelids lowered, and with the wind blowing her mane back, the moonlight illuminating her sapphire eyes, made even brighter by the khol that rimmed them... she was one of the most beautiful things Grecio had ever seen. He took the clove without a word as it hovered back within his reach.

"My people are ancient," Armistice began. "We do not bow to your Princesses." She closed her eyes and bowed her head, her horn glowing faintly. A faint hum filled his ears.

In a sudden explosion of light, a arial view of a land was born in the air before him. A grand castle sat at the top of a mountain, surrounded by verdant forests. The view swerved, diving closer, through the trees, faster, faster, and Armistice continued, her horn glowing so brightly it was almost white. Grecio could feel the heat from it.

"When Equestria formed, we declined to join." The view slowed as it approached the town surrounding the castle, showing taverns, shops, earth ponies and peagsi and unicorn of various professions, all medieval, all cordial and prosperous and healthy. "We do not divide our people as Equestrians do, and live together as one race." The view soared again to show the town from the air, a neat arrangement of streets and houses, criss-crossing orderly. "Magic is valued. Hard work is valued. Everypony is valued."

The mirage blinked out of existence as quickly as it had appeared. Grecio stared at the small cream unicorn, his jaw slack with wonder. Armistice returned the look with an even stare of her own.

"I left on my knowledge quest five years before it is customary in my culture. Do you know why?"

Grecio could only shake his head.

"Unicorns are required to attend mage school. I completed my studies years before scheduled. I had the privilege of mastering several concepts at an early age, and was able to graduate before my peers." She smiled. "All magic was alicorn magic before the Sisters, Grecio."

He took a slow drag from his clove. She noted his paw was trembling ever so slightly.

"Do you still think I am 'just a filly?' " she asked, arching an eyebrow.

The diamond dog met her eyes again, and she almost gasped. They were haunted, and ancient, with none of the playful gleam she had see earlier that evening. He knelt, taking her face in his hands.

"Can you save her...?"

Grecio - A Friend Indeed

             Armistice stared in surprise at the submissive diamond dog.

"Can you?" he implored. The pads on his paws were hot on her cheeks. He was aware of tears in his eyes, and was not ashamed of his weakness before this young creature. In the light of her beauty and her power, she had demonstrated the truth of her abilities - she was the key to his lady's salvation.

"I..." Armistice began, her tone uncertain.  She shifted her forelegs, one hoof behind the other. The collar of Grecio's tunic was loose and open, and the unicorn's eyes were drawn to the puckered scar over his heart.

"For years I have watched her, guarded her. In these last few decades, she has lost all hope. Please... Armistice..." His voice softened to a whisper. "I cannot stop her from destroying herself."

Armistice gently removed her face from his grasp, lifting his lowered chin with her muzzle. The diamond dog was allowing his grief to flow freely down his cheeks. It tore at her heart.

"Tell me," she began, lifting a hoof to his chest. "How did this come to be? How are you still alive?" Her expression was stern, but caring. "I want to understand you. I want to understand her. But to do that, I need to trust. And for that to happen, I need the truth."

"I will tell you everything," he replied solemnly, rising to his feet, clasping her hoof tightly. "All that I know."

The lovely young pianist nodded.

"First I must move my lady to her quarters. I can't leave her sleeping with an unbandaged wing in the front room," he added. "If you would like to wait for me-"

"I'll help," she interrupted. Grecio blinked. Armistice smiled warmly. "I can move her without her even knowing."

The pair headed inside the flat, Grecio closing the balcony doors quietly behind them. Noir slumbered still upon the cushion, her deformed wing having bled slowly and stained the material. Gently, the diamond dog lifted the tattered mass of flesh and feathers in his paw, motioning for Armistice to open the small drawer in the table nearby. With a soft blue glow, the drawer slid free, and a fresh cloth wrap of bandages floated toward him.

"Why won't it heal?" she asked quietly, watching with her brow knit as Grecio tenderly wrapped the damaged tissue. He shook his head.

"She never explained it fully to me. I don't think she knows herself. Something went wrong during her transformation... something her body can't fix." He rested a paw on her flank, and her good wing twitched.

"What does she dream of?" the unicorn continued. Grecio smiled sadly.

"Flying, I think."

"Oh," Armistice replied softly, lowering her eyes. Grecio moved to stand and scoop Noir into his arms. Armistice tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked back at her. She lifted her eyebrows, and he nodded.

That same soft sapphire aura encircled the sleeping alicorn, lifting her soundlessly from the cushion.

"Lead the way," Armistice murmured. Grecio motioned her down the hall. She followed.

He took her to a simple room, large, but sparse, the only furniture an immense cushion bed, like the one in room Armitsice slept in, and a bookshelf. The far wall held a fireplace. There were no windows. She lowered Noir onto the cushion while Gercio busied himself with the fire. Armistice pulled one of the numerous blankets over the slumbering alicorn, taking care to not disturb her bandaged wing.

"She's still asleep," Armistice told him, joining him at the hearth. He nodded, watching the small flames lick at the logs.

"The spell will keep her so until morning."

"Magic is unusual for your kind to wield..."

"So is my lifespan," he chuckled, sitting on the rug. She followed suit.

"Tell me how that happened."

Grecio rubbed at the scar on his arm, watching as the flames found fuel in the wood and became a blaze. Shadows danced on the walls behind them.

"Noir freed me from my pack. I stayed with her, on her journey back to Canterlot. It had to have taken years... I had no sense of time. Only sunrises and sunsets. We walked for hundreds of those." He folded his legs and rested his paws on his knees. When he stared into the fire, his green eyes took on a look that gave Armistice a chill. Guardian and warrior, so much older than he should have been, this creature had seen more in his lifetime than he wanted to. "Things... did not go they way she hoped with her teacher."

A log popped and cracked. Noir stirred on her cushion. Grecio looked over to ensure she was still asleep.

"When we arrived at this place, it was still a place of small houses and shops. Noir was... beside herself. I was older, not the pup that had saved her in the mountains many years ago."

"Do you understand, Grecio, what I am asking of you?"

"One night, while laying awake in out tent - our lodgings had not yet been built - she turned to me in the dark."

"Life in my service will not be easy. The path you walk shall be over shards of crystal and bone."

"She offered me the opportunity of a lifetime," he continued, eyes still on the flames.

"Do you swear yourself to me, as long as I am of this world?"

"This, to bind my body." He extended his forearm, showing Armistice the scar. "With a molten hot horn, she drew the symbol that extended my life."

"This next part, Grecio... hurts me as much you..."

"And this..." He pulled the collar of his tunic open to reveal the scar over his heart. It was puckered, like something spiraled had been plunged into his chest.

"Beat for beat, twined in time, when mine heart stops, so does thine..."

"Bound our souls." He rubbed it absently. "A shard of her horn lies deep within my heart." Armistice stared with wide eyes. He nodded. "When she passes from Equestria... so shall I."

"That magic is ancient," she said softly. "Even my people are wary to cast it."

"I suppose she figured she had nothing to lose," Grecio shrugged. "Celestia cast her aside. At first, Noir threw herself into research, convinced there was some way to undo what had been done. But she despaired as time went on... and fell into drink. And other habits..." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Not two nights ago I dragged her from a stallion's home before the papers got word of it."

"Grecio," Armistice said gently, "to reinstate an Ascension phase... no non alicorn has ever done so."

The diamond dog looked up, meeting her eyes with a sudden look of despair. Armistice smiled.

"But if there's a way... I will find it."

He threw his arms around her in a tight embrace, burying his face against her neck. Her mane smelled like the sun and the fields and hope.

"Thank you," he whispered fiercely.

"May I stay with her?" she asked. He nodded, releasing her gently. Armistice smiled again. "She is not alone. And neither are you." She tapped her necklace. The silver heart glinted in the firelight. " 'Quis Aeternum'," she said. "Forever Supporting."

Grecio rested a paw on her cheek.

"I will wake you both in the morning for breakfast."

The unicorn nodded and watched the diamond dog get to his feet, stopping to check on his mistress before exiting the room. She sat by the fire for several more moments before rising herself.

From the doorway, Grecio watched as Armistice crawled onto the cushion next to Noir, snuggling under her wing and nestling next to her flank. Noir stirred, and to his delight, did not pull away, instead turning to cradle the young mare in her embrace in a display of intimacy he had never thought her capable of.

Noir had lovers, yes. Strings of them.

She had never had friends.