Chapter Eleven: Honoring Our Heroes in the Dawn
Scorpan, meanwhile, pulled himself to a sitting position against the wall. "The light…how it shines!" he murmured as I landed beside him.
"Scorpan?" I whispered.
Hoofbeats rang out on the flagstones behind me, and then Bowtie and Firefly were at my side to hear what would be Scorpan's last words.
"So splendid, yet I can fill my eyes without pain," Scorpan whispered.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" I said.
Firefly and Bowtie shook their heads; whether they wept for Scorpan or all who had fallen in the Night – I never knew.
Scorpan's head lolled forward. "So…bright."
As though his words had been a prophecy, the Dayblade shattered like a mirror. The pieces burned out their last glory in white radiance. When their shine dimmed, Scorpan's body reverted to that of Prince Alexander Christophe Phillipe Tarquinn XXXIII, his face as serene as mine was surely anguished.
Unexpectedly, the scent of water filled the air, plinked on the stonework. We three ponies froze, rigidly awaiting the dreaded Change. Soon our manes were plastered to our faces. Gazing on the prince's stilled form, on the raindrops that strewed the roof like funeral petals, I made the realization. "It is ordinary rain," I said. My own tears joined the wetness on my cheeks. "The Night has ended."
From the tower emerged many ponies who greeted Firefly and Bowtie by name.
To my joy, Sweet Stuff, Gusty, and Shady emerged as well. Joy mingled with sorrow in my aching chest as I nuzzled them and licked their faces. Had I human arms as Megan or even Scorpan, I would have embraced them and never let go.
Together, we watched the sunrise from the top of Midnight Castle. I found it fitting, if bittersweet, that Prince Alexander – no, he would want me to call him Scorpan – that Scorpan had met his end at the east-facing wall. When the golden rays poured their bounty across the roof, the delicate notes of birds released from their tenure as Tirek's soldiers filled the air.
Soon the ponies' awe diminished into many separate conversations united with one theme: what were we to do next? I took flight and positioned myself to hover at the center of the roof. For an instant, the lands below, fragile and beautiful in the morning light, held my gaze. "Ponies," I called down to them, "please listen to me. Here on this roof are two who have fallen to bring us this morning. Let us pay our respects, for without them, we would still languish in shadows."
My words silenced all peripheral conversations as they beheld the sunlight with clearer sight.
"You seem to have an idea of how we might do that, Paradise," Firefly called. I lowered myself a foot or two; I had their attention now.
"Scorpan and Spike will be difficult to carry from this place. But now that the Night has ended, Midnight Castle is the site of their victory. I think they would be pleased if we laid them to rest here." Suddenly I could speak no more; my tears would not stop.
"I understand," Firefly said. "Let us place Spike at Scorpan's side. Such great friends deserve to be together in death."
With the efforts of many ponies, Spike was brought to Scorpan. We laid both facing east. Bowtie and Firefly spoke of their bravery and their sacrifice, how they wished Scorpan and Spike might have shared this morning with us.
Then Gusty came forth with two other white unicorns who I later learned were named Moon Dancer and Glory. Moon Dancer and Glory's horns showered blinding white sparks upon our departed heroes. Then Gusty summoned a brisk wind in which the flicker-flashes grew to pillars of flames.
Through my tears, it seemed a second sun burned on the roof of Midnight Castle. Perhaps, I reflected, in that radiant realm beyond mortal sight, Scorpan's last serene smile would replace his hungry watchful expression. Perhaps the wall he had always kept around his heart would finally fall.
I do not recall how long the fires burned. During the Night, I had ceased to consider even rough estimations of time. In addition, grief fragmented my memories. I have dim recollections of Firefly directing our escape efforts, of Gusty, Moon Dancer, and Glory communicating with the three unicorns at the Mushromp. I remember seemingly-interminable passages of Midnight Castle's interior, and endlessly returning in mind to memories of Spike and Scorpan. Though rough and unrefined, the latter was a noble hero. All of Ponyland was in his debt.
Then I was awakening in the Mushromp atop a bed of soft grass.
"Paradise!" Firefly darted around the giant mushroom which shaded me and called, "Paradise woke up!"
Chichi came around with the pink pegasus. Dark circles smudged the undersides of her eyes. "Are you back with us now?" the wizardess said.
I struggled to recall hours, days, interminable time, but it was no good. My memory was an overgrown forest filled with haze that would not part for me.
Then I saw a dark spire in the distance, and pain brought me clarity.
"Yes," I said slowly. "Though I do not wish to be."
"Understood," Chichi said. "You have endured a great deal."
"I don't understand," I said. "The Night has ended." So saying, I cast an uneasy gaze at the sunset. I wished I could persuade day to stay longer, to regrow the flowers of hope that had withered and shriveled in the darkness infesting my heart. "Our friends have been rescued against all odds. The day, if you will forgive the pun, is ours. Why do I still feel this pain?"
"It will take time," Chichi said.
I thought of the Dream Valley I had known. "When can you send us home, Chichi? I hope you won't be offended, but I miss Paradise Estate and my other friends so much. I think I could heal faster there." There where there was no death, no matter how I sought to remember. There where pain was only superficial and could be solved with tears, then forgotten.
"I'm sorry, Paradise," Chichi said.
I stiffened. Firefly gave me a sympathetic look, and I realized that she already knew what Chichi was going to say.
"I won't be able to send you home until I can acquire a new traveler's crystal from the University. Although light has returned to Dream Valley and the surrounding areas, the way to other lands remains blocked by a mysterious mist. I have tried daily to cross it, but every time, it sends me to the orchard…"
Chichi shivered violently.
"Orchard? I don't understand." But gazing at the ash-smears of the plum sky, glimpsing the ineffable blackness of Midnight Castle, suddenly I did.
"The residue of Tirek's presence is surely to blame. But don't worry. Moochie and I are certain it will lift. It's just a matter of time."