James slid down the dark hole into a large, open den. Fumbling around for the briefest of moments, he eventually found what he was looking for. Striking a match, he lit the oil lamp hanging from a hook hammered into the stone ceiling above and suddenly the small, crude apartment was visible to him.
He had reached his next halfway-house at roughly midnight, so the outside was very dimly lit by the moon. To hide the entrance he used a barrel-lid covered with moss; he picked that lid up and whanged it back into place, closing the 'door' to his tiny den. It was located in the middle of the plains between Dodge City and Fillydelphia, an area remarkably low in cover. When James discovered it, it was a wet, filthy cave of sorts beneath a huge boulder, likely formed millennia ago by a passing glacier. It was still wet and filthy now, but somewhat less so; comfort was a luxury for him, but he was able to set down a tarp on the dirt floor and place a cot and a small table and stool in to make it more homely. Not feeling particularly tired at the moment, James sat down and pulled a map of Equestria from his pack.
As he reviewed the map, which had all of his currently-standing hideaways marked on it, he reached back in his pack and pulled out a pen, which he used to cross out a circled spot in red; the cave that he had blown to smithereens about a week ago. With the constant repetition of his circuit and the little, barely-noticeable markers he'd set up to help him along, James could just burn the map and go by memory (it'd be one less thing to worry about falling into enemy hands, after all), but having something he could use in case he ever forgot anything was… comforting to him. There was something bugging him about what happened in Dodge. Something about the way he didn't see Thundershield's forces coming at him.
James sighed. You'll figure things out, he reassured himself. You always do.
Then he got up, stretched, crawled into his cot and fell asleep, letting the oil lamp burn.
Colin had quickly realized after waking up that this world was not a dream.
When he got out of bed, Colin had found breakfast already waiting for him; bread, cheese and celery. Colin ate and then decided to wander around, hoping to familiarize himself with the massive palace. As he made his way around the halls, he noticed the random patrols of the guards in golden armour, each one traveling in pairs as they went about their business. None of them stopped him, nor did they say anything, but every time Colin passed one of the patrols he'd notice them eying him, giving him sideways or suspicious looks. Sometimes when they were behind him he'd hear muttering, whispers that he couldn't make out but knew innately were about him.
He guessed they didn't exactly trust him.
Colin wandered around for about twenty minutes, going past the throne room Celestia had him brought to yesterday, which was currently vacant. Eventually he made his way around to a spiral staircase leading downwards to ground level, where a door led him outside back into the garden. Pathways of cobblestone had been laid down to give him a sense of direction; he decided not to stray too far from them, just in case. The mountain air was fresh, but chilly, and when Colin breathed, his breath misted slightly, a tell-tale sign of the season. There wasn't any snow yet, and the cold wasn't unbearable, so it was likely autumn, but winter wasn't far off, that was for sure. Despite the cold, all around him the plants of the garden bloomed in multiple colours. Hedges and bushes almost glowed with red, orange, yellow and other assorted blossoms. Fountains sprayed clear water and around them were placed various statues of ponies carved from granite and marble on plinths, dancing, playing instruments and doing other certain things.
Eventually, Colin's wandering brought him to an empty plinth standing around what he judged was the center of the gardens. Tall and thin, there wasn't anything placed upon it and no inscription had been written saying who or what was supposed to be there. Still, just being around it made him feel tense, and Colin had no idea why. Curiously, he stepped closer towards it, reaching out to brush the edge of it….
But suddenly Colin felt eyes on him and whirled around to see Celestia standing behind him. She didn't look angry or concerned, she was just watching him.
"How long have you been standing there?" he asked.
"Just the last ten seconds," Celestia answered. "I felt that if I waited for you to notice me on your own this time I wouldn't scare you."
"Right," Colin replied, "Listen, can we make a deal?"
"I suppose."
"From here on in, no more sneaking up on me, alright?"
Celestia couldn't help but laugh. "I guess that's reasonable," she conceded.
Colin turned back towards the plinth. "So… what's this thing supposed to be?"
In response, Celestia only frowned. "It… was the statue of an old enemy," she explained, "one who was turned away from darkness recently. To tell the truth, I've been meaning to have that plinth removed and replaced with something else, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Now, as for you…"
"What about me?" Colin asked.
"I did tell you I was going to show you around," Celestia said. "But when I said that, I was hoping we'd do it together."
Colin stared at her. "Is there a reason why you want me so close?" he found himself asking. He didn't know why he asked her that; it felt rude, especially considering that she had basically taken him in.
Rather than get upset, however, Celestia simply nodded. "You're a strange creature, Colin; one that hasn't been seen in Equestria before. You are… unique," she lied, "and your uniqueness might cause people to see you as dangerous or otherworldly. Now I'm sure the ponies here will warm up to you, eventually, but until then I'd like to keep you here, where I know you won't end up getting into any trouble."
Colin thought back to the day before, and how the guard that spotted him reacted to his presence; it was an immediate and panicked action, as though he'd assumed from looking at him that he was a threat. Considering that, he decided Celestia's reasoning was sound enough for him.
"All right," Colin agreed. "I guess I can stay here a while. In the meantime," he said, gesturing to the castle, "I'm pretty sure I've missed at least one or two places wandering around here, so if you'd like to show me them…"
Celestia smiled. "Sure. Follow me."
After leaving the gardens, Colin and Celestia wandered aimlessly around the palace, the princess showing him the places he had missed. There wasn't much else that mattered to Colin; there were a few other bedrooms, a couple kitchens, and a guardhouse near the front entrance where the patrols would gather on the breaks between their shifts. A dining hall where Colin was told he could go to for lunch and dinner was shown to him as well as where the restrooms were (which in this labyrinthine building Colin decided to take note of most). While making their way up towards a tall spire where Celestia told him was an observatory of sorts, the pair ran into another horse like Celestia, only this one was different. She was slightly smaller than Celestia, and her body was a deep blue in contrast to Celestia's stark white. Her mane had a similar effect to Celestia's as well, only it was black and speckled with glinting stars of white, blue and some red, like the night sky. Celestia explained that this was Luna, her younger sister, and introduced him to her. After a short chat, the two of them moved on.
"So, your manes," Colin asked. "And those markings on your…"
"We call them Cutie Marks," Celestia answered after Colin trailed off. "You're wondering why mine's a sun and Luna's is a moon."
"Yes," was all he could answer.
"Well," Celestia told him as the two began ascending a creaky wooden staircase, "when an Equestrian is born, they don't have these marks. A Cutie Mark relates to a pony's talent, and when they find out what that talent is, the mark appears on their flank. I've seen it happen," she said wistfully. "It's truly beautiful."
"Cutie Marks," Colin repeated. "So, finding them is like, a journey of self-realization, right? And if yours is a sun, then that would mean that your talent is related to the sun."
"Correct on both counts," Celestia replied. "I'm in charge of the daytime, and Luna is in charge of the nighttime in contrast."
Colin paused. "Hang on," he asked, "how?"
Celestia didn't stop, forcing him to keep up with her. "Magic flows through every single being in this universe. It is the driving force behind everything you see; when an Earth Pony sows a seed, magic causes it to grow; when a Pegasus takes to the air, magic is what keeps them aloft and stops them from tumbling out of the sky; and when a Unicorn casts a spell, it is magic that they manipulate to their will. Sometimes, however, certain things need a bit of a push to get going."
The two of them finally reached the top of the spire and walked out onto a small balcony where a telescope had been positioned. This area had to have been the highest point in the world; Colin could see beyond the guardrail the entire land laid out, blanketed by heavy clouds. Because they were far above the cloud line, the sun turned everything a golden, almost heavenly hue.
"Wonderful view, isn't it?" Celestia asked before returning to her little lesson. "Look through the telescope; show me what you see over in that area," she instructed, gesturing to a tiny speck of a town in the far distance. There was no way this tiny little telescope would be able to see that far, and yet when Colin leaned in and looked through the spyglass, he could not only see the town but make out the people scurrying about and the tiny details.
"…Astonishing," he breathed.
"The town you're looking at," Celestia told him, "is called Ponyville. I have a protégée there, a former student of mine who has recently become a princess of her own making, the princess of Friendship, in fact. Her name is Twilight Sparkle; maybe one day, when the people trust you enough, I'll send you to visit her. Now, turn the telescope to this location." And by gently nudging the telescope Celestia guided his eye to a cluster of clouds, where a group of winged Pegasi were flying around like insects. At first, Colin assumed they were simply playing around, but then he noticed that they were in fact pushing the cloud along.
"As I said, sometimes things need a push to get going," Celestia continued. "And nature itself is one of them. These Pegasi are cloud-movers; without them, the clouds would float in one place until they evaporated, and no rain would come to water the crops we need for food. This is considered our way of life in all but a small handful of locations where nature works on its own. And as for what I do… well, similar to how these cloud-movers shift the clouds to bring rain, I use my magic to move that."
Colin leaned away to get a look at what Celestia was pointing to. Shielding his eyes, he looked up towards the sun but didn't see anything…. And then it dawned on him.
"You… you move the sun?" Colin exclaimed. "That's impossible."
"Not here," Celestia replied. "Here, I move the sun, make it rise and set to bring about night, and Luna in turn shifts the moon across the sky to bring about day again. Without us, it took a whole group of powerful wizards to do it, and it drained their lives away; without anyone to do it, the sun and moon would hang in the sky forever, leaving one side of the world in endless day and the other in endless night."
"Then…" Colin's head spun. "Do you have any idea how much power it would take to move a star? You'd have to be a god to do it!"
"I'm no god," Celestia replied flatly. "And I don't expect you or anyone else to treat me like one. I am like you; equally as fallible and prone to mistakes. Never forget that."
For a long time the two of them looked out over the world, saying nothing as Colin processed this information. There were so many things about this world that were different from what little he could remember of his home; it was like a paradise.
Eventually, he spoke. "Is there anything else you'd like to show me?"
"Well," Celestia said, not taking her eyes off the view, "we have two libraries here, if you like reading; one is free for you to visit, the other is strictly off-limits. We also have a dungeon with holding cells; they're empty right now, and also off-limits. We'll go see them in a moment, but dinner's not far off, so we won't be long. After we eat, I'll show you how I move the sun, and then I'll leave you to go back to your room and get some sleep."
"Fair enough," was Colin's only reply.
Evening came faster than expected. Or perhaps, exactly as fast as suspected. It was late autumn after all, so the days were going to get shorter as winter progressed on.
It had admittedly been a lazy day for princess Twilight Sparkle; at least, lazy in compare to the more recent happenings and events, which was extremely welcoming all things considered. Currently, her work was mostly minor, solving little disputes between friends or families as opposed to going on adventures to far-flung lands or attending parties. Perhaps the most eventful day she'd had in the last six months was when she and her friends stopped Starlight Glimmer from removing the talents of the ponies that she was living among. Spike was sitting just across the study from her, idly reading one of his comic books that had just come out today.
While he did that, Twilight scribbled down the slight events of her day in the journal she kept by her side. While she no longer had to write letters to her mentor and friend, Celestia, old habits die hard, and besides, it was useful to keep a record around at least for posterity. The writing was a comfortable routine, and soon she got lost in it, so much so that she didn't notice Spike suddenly standing beside her until he gently tugged at her mane to get her attention.
"You got a letter from Celestia," he told her. Clutched in his hand was a scroll that had been unrolled, the wax seal still attached to the paper. "It said it was meant to be private."
In spite of what Spike had just told her, Twilight grinned at him. "So, naturally, you read it," she asked him.
Spike smiled apologetically back at her. "Sorry," he said. "I got curious."
"It's fine, nosy," Twilight joked, and took the letter from him.
'Twilight.
'I understand that it is late, and I apologize, but this is a somewhat urgent matter.'
That couldn't have been good.
'It is nothing that requires your immediate attention, so don't worry about that; and no, before you ask, it's nothing about you. You've been doing splendidly, exactly as I'd hoped you would. However, it's still an important matter and I'd like you to report to me in person as soon as you are able.'
A feeling of anxiety began to set in. Despite the reassurance that this wasn't about her, Twilight could only let her imagination run wild wondering what this problem would be that would require her to go to Canterlot and talk to Celestia face-to-face. It most definitely couldn't have been good in that case. She just hoped that it wasn't about…
'Four years ago…'
…And there it was. Of course it would be about him. Still, Twilight gave herself the benefit of the doubt; maybe after all this time he'd finally have been caught, and this letter was just a summons to the court hearing. Twilight kept reading.
'Four years ago, there was a series of strange events regarding the discovery of a creature in the Everfree Forest. Today, there has been a new development linked directly to that series of events. Perhaps I shouldn't be telling you about it just yet, but the last time it happened, I didn't tell you and I paid for it dearly. So this time around, I want us both to be ready for what's coming.
I need you to come to Canterlot as soon as possible. You may tell your friends where you are going, and why you had to go when you return to them; I trust them enough to know they won't spread any rumors. However, it is imperative that nopony else be told of what transpires during our meeting. Again I apologize for everything this letter entails; I'm sorry I had to drag you into this, but I'm not going to have repeats of before if I can help it.'
Twilight's hopes had been all but dashed by that paragraph. Celestia wanted this meeting to remain secret; she'd only ever have a good reason as to why. That concerned and unnerved her more than anything; it could only mean something sinister was about to happen and she was trying to avoid a panic. Twilight sighed. Things were only going to go to Tartarus in a handbasket from here.
'Thank you kindly for your time, Twilight. I will be expecting you.
Your mentor,
Celestia'
