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." Next Chapter: Noir - Strange Bedfellows Estimated time remaining: 19 Minutes