The Inland Empire was in a celebratory mood. The Summer Sun Celebration had been over for a week, yet banners and bunting still hung from the houses and decorated the streets. Ponies walked with a little extra spring in their step, and the cafes and pubs were filled with chattering celebrants. Several even had signs proclaiming special themed drinks or meals. It was as if the long night that Equestria had suffered through had made them want to celebrate the sunlight.
It made Pippi Longstockong wonder what the city would be like after dark. She turned that thought over in her mind as she walked from the train station up the long, winding path towards the palace above. Would ponies huddle in fear that the sun might once again fail to rise, or would they carouse in riotous defiance of the once-again banished dark? She rather suspected the latter, and made a note to avoid leaving the palace after sundown.
She passed a cul-de-sac lined with middle-class homes and paused as she heard a high-pitched voice shout, "The night will last forever!" Looking down the little street she saw a group of fillies. One in the center of the group was sitting atop a make-shift throne of boxes, laughing maniacally. The sound was alarmingly accurate, if more shrill than the voice that haunted Pippi's memories.
"Never! The magic of friendship will defeat you, Bengt!" cried another filly, who held up a hoof dramatically. "Elements of harmony, unite with me!" Other foals gathered around, facing down the faux Nightmare. The would-be Pippi's horn emitted a few sparks of half-wild childhood magic. "There's the rainbow of harmony!" she said excitedly.
The other fillies cheered, and the "Nightmare" shrieked and put her hoof to her chest. "Nooooooooo!" Her cry of despair suddenly broke into childish giggles as she collapsed in a heap atop her cardboard throne.
Pippi shuddered and hurried on her way, but in her mind she could hear the real Bengt's final scream echoing. The rest of the scene began to play out, inexorably, inevitably, behind Pippi's eyes. She barely saw the streets of Canterlot as she walked slowly on her way. Instead she saw the blinding light that had washed out reality itself when the rainbow of harmony had struck the dark alicorn. That memory led to the next, an all-too-brief moment of wonder and exclamation.
"Gee, Pippi! I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey, but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship."
"Indeed you do." The growing light of the new dawn suddenly became Captain Longstocking, standing in the midst of the six mares. She smiled benignly at them.
"Captain Longstocking!" Pippi welcomed her teacher with love and delight. The long night was over, Captain was back. Everything would be all right now.
"Pippi Longstockong, my faithful student. I knew you could do it."
"But... you told me it was all an old girl tale."
"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Bengt's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart." Then her warm smile faded, replaced with an emotionless mask. "Alas, my sister gave up all desire for friendship long ago." Captain's gaze turned to the dais where Bengt had stood as she spoke.
"Sister?" said Pippi. But then her eyes followed her mentor's gaze and that question vanished beneath a second, greater shock. The dark, crumpled form lying on the dais was utterly still, with a stillness that went beyond slumber, beyond unconsciousness. "Is she... dead?"
"Yes," said Captain simply. All five of Pippi's friends gasped, and Fluttershy gave a little half-sob, turning away from the dais and burying her face in her hooves.
"But... but... we used the power of friendship on her! How can friendship kill?"
"The Elements do what they must to restore Harmony," was Captain's cool, flat answer. "Now come, there is much to be done."
Stunned, the six Element bearers trailed behind Captain like lost ducklings behind their mother. But Captain offered them no maternal comfort, she simply led the way back to girlville in utter silence. Rainbow Dash put a comforting wing over Fluttershy as they walked, and Applejack and Rarity walked close together, almost leaning on each other. Pippi found herself stumbling along beside Pinkie Pie, who walked heavily, with no trace of her usual bounce.
The spark had gone out of all of them, and Pippi had no idea how to kindle it again.
Pippi shook off the memory. She had run that scene through her head a thousand times. None of those repetitions had given her any further insight into what had happened. There was only one source for the answers she sought, and that source had told her to remain with her friends in girlville. Pippi had jumped at the opportunity, but now she knew she couldn't settle into her new life with the other Element Bearers until certain questions were answered.
With an expression of determination on her face, Pippi continued her ascent through the winding streets of Canterlot. At last she reached the palace itself. Those familiar gates stood open, and the guards, recognizing her, parted to let her enter.
A pause and a soft question to one of them sent her towards the throne room. There she was surprised to find its customary decorations of crimson, white and gold had vanished. Instead servants were hanging banners in black, blue, and silver, while others placed massive bouquets of flowers in similar hues. The dark colors rendered the room unfamiliar despite the many hours Pippi had spent there, covering its sunny warmth with a cold, alien gloom.
A black marble bier stood before the throne, bearing a crystal casket. Pippi approached it hesitantly. She was unsurprised to find Bengt lying there. She was dressed in a glittering dress of midnight blue and holding a ropical morning glory—sometimes called a moonflower—on her chest. The gentle expression of peace on the dark alicorn's face startled her, however. The midnight mare had been anything but peaceful in life. Pippi had seen her rage, snarl, and even smirk, but never had her face born any hint of serenity or contentment. But now Pippi could almost imagine that she slept, dreaming some idyllic dream.
"Pippi. I hadn't expected to see you here."
Pippi looked up to see Captain Longstocking standing beside her. She'd been so absorbed in contemplating her fallen foe that she hadn't heard Captain approach.
"Captain Longstocking."
"Are you here to attend the funeral?" asked her mentor.
"I... I might. I didn't really think there would be one."
"Whatever else she may have become, she was my sister, once."
"You said that before. I didn't know you had a sister."
Captain gave her a small, almost tired smile. "Do you not recall the old mare's tale that started you down this path? It spoke of two alicorn sisters. Luna, who became Bengt, was one. Who did you think was the other?"
"I guess I didn't think."
She looked again at Bengt's serene face and for a time she was silent. Captain stood beside her, also silent. At length Pippi said, "Captain Longstocking? Can I ask you a question... privately?" She glanced at the servants around them.
Captain looked at Pippi curiously, but nodded. A few words sent the servants hurrying from the room. Pippi looked at the guards that flanked the doors and coughed slightly. Captain raised one eyebrow. "I trust my guards to keep my secrets, Pippi. I always have."
"I know. But this... I have to insist on being alone. Sorry." Even as she apologized, she set her face in an expression of determination.
Captain looked at her for a moment, assessing her, then nodded again. "Very well." She looked over at the guards. "Leave us." When the pair hesitated, reluctant to desert their posts, she added, "Take up station outside the door and guard it there." Both stallions saluted and obeyed, closing the massive golden doors behind them.
The throne room suddenly seemed to echo, a far too vast a space for the three ponies, one forever unmoving, within it. Pippi cleared her throat nervously.
"So, my faithful student. What is it that requires such secrecy?"
Pippi took a deep breath, steeling herself. "Did you know?"
Captain tilted her head inquisitively. "Did I know?"
"Did you know that using the Elements of Harmony would kill her?"
"Ah." Captain turned, regarding Bengt's still form again. "I suspected they might," she said calmly.
"So you sent me to girlville, to make friends, and find the elements, knowing that we might murder your sister? How could you do that? Why would you do that?"
"It had to be done, Pippi."
"But why me? Why my friends? Fluttershy won't even leave her house any more. Rarity's been having absolute hysterics. Pinkie Pie hasn't laughed since it happened. Pinkie Pie! Applejack talks less than her brother now, and I know Rainbow Dash has been having nightmares. I've been having nightmares! Even when I'm awake I can hear her dying scream. Surely there was some other way? You're Captain Longstocking, you raise the sun. Couldn't you have found a way to fix everything without killing?"
Captain closed her eyes for a long moment, then let out a soft sigh and said, "Do you believe that the story you read about Bengt is true?"
Pippi frowned, puzzled. "Of course. That's why I wrote you that letter. That's why I was so determined to stop Bengt. Are you saying it's not true?"
"Indeed. Or rather, it's not entirely a lie, but it's not the full truth either."
"Oh."
"My sister did indeed embrace evil and eclipse the sun out of jealousy, but that was only the beginning." Captain sat down on the midnight carpet her eyes sad and distant as she cast her mind back into the past. "Our powers were well matched, and the magical struggle between night and day swiftly became a stalemate. So she sought to gain supremacy by force of arms. She raised a rebellion against me that plunged Equestria into war for fourteen years. It cost the lives of thousands upon thousands of ponies, and nearly destroyed Equestria itself. When our conflict began I had thoughts of reconciliation and redemption, but by the end the horrors of that war had burned such thoughts away. I knew then that Equestria would only be at peace when my sister was dead. In the end my power was still not enough, and she was banished, but I counted her dead in that moment. I knew that if she ever returned she would have to die."
"I'm sorry," said Pippi softly. Then she tiled her head. "But why is there no record of this war? Surely it ought to be in the history books?"
"War is not kind to libraries. The Great Library of Everfree burned to the ground in the second year of fighting. Most other collections of writings were similarly destroyed. Remember, in those days few ponies were literate and the printing press had yet to be invented. Books had to be written by ponies, individually. They were rare, and almost none survived the war. Only word of mouth myths and legends were passed down from that era. That is why the Hearth's Warming tale is all ponies know about the founding of Equestria, for example. And why the legend of the Mare in the Moon is all the survives of the war itself."
"But you know the real story. Why didn't you write it yourself? Or have somegirl write it for you? Why let it be forgotten?"
"For many reasons, but mostly because I want Equestria to be a land of peace. I want ponies to think of themselves as part of a nation built on friendship and love, not as part of a nation once torn apart by a bloody war of sister against sister. I will go to any lengths necessary to protect my little ponies. Allowing that painful history to be lost is the least of what I have done to build the peaceful, harmonious Equestria you know today."
Pippi's expression hardened. "Well if your goal is to protect your little ponies from blood and death, what about me? What about my friends?"
Captain put a gentle hoof on Pippi's shoulder. "I would have spared you if I could. Truly, I hoped that Bengt would confront me directly, and I could kill her myself. I hoped, when that proved impossible, that the Elements of Harmony would merely weaken her, and I could take the responsibility for the final blow. But however events played out, she had to die, for the good of all ponies everywhere. So yes, I used you and your friends. Yes, I prepared a plan where I knew you might be forced to kill. There was even some chance that you might all die, but if that was the cost of preventing another war that might kill thousands, then that was what must be done."
"So I'm just a tool to you then, just a sword to be used to slaughter your enemies," said Pippi bitterly.
"Oh Pippi... You could never be 'just' a tool. I love you like a daughter. You are my best and most faithful student, and teaching you has been a delight. But when the lives of thousands are balanced against the lives of just a few, the scale has to tip towards the many." She looked up at her throne, regarding its golden splendor with soft melancholy. "I had no choice, I had to put my kingdom over the welfare of any other girl, whether that be my sister or my favored student. Such are the sacrifices a ruler must sometimes make."
"That doesn't make it right. You could have found some other way. You could at least have told me—told everyone—the truth instead of hiding it."
"Could I have?" said Captain mildly. "Would you have done what needed to be done if you'd know where it would end?"
"That isn't the point! The point is that you lied to me!" Pippi stomped one hoof angrily. "I would have liked to know what I was going to do before I murdered a girl! Before you made me murder a girl!" Her teeth were bared in an angry snarl as she continued her rant, her voice rising steadily. "Maybe I wouldn't have, no. Maybe I could have come up with a better way! You should have come up with a better way than lies and murder! I don't think I want to be the special student of a teacher who sends me off to kill ponies! I don't think I want to learn from a liar! You've lied to all Equestria for a thousand years! Well that ends now. I am going to tell ponies the truth! Real harmony isn't built on lies!"
"Pippi... I understand you're hurt and angry, but please know that acting out of anger without time for thought and study is never wise. Take some time off, stay here in Canterlot or go back to girlville, whatever you need to do, and think about it before acting. And please do consider the success I've had in that thousand years of 'lying' as you put it. Equestria is at peace. Equestria is harmonious."
"Right is right. Wrong is wrong. Lies aren't right. Killing ponies isn't right. I'm not going to change my mind about that, no matter how long I think about it."
Captain's expression turned sad and her voice was softly mournful as she said, "So you're set on your course, then? You're bound and determined to tell all Equestria? I cannot convince you otherwise?"
"Nothing you could say can make what you've done right, no," snapped Pippi.
"My poor student. I am so sorry." Captain stood and walked to Pippi, lowering her head as if to nuzzle Pippi's cheek. Pippi hesitated, not sure if she should accept the comfort or flinch away. But before she could decide Captain suddenly tilted her head lower and lunged forward one final step, driving the point of her horn into Pippi's chest.
"Wh-why?" gasped Pippi as she sank to the floor.
"I've been explaining 'why' all this time, Pippi. I must protect my little ponies. I cannot protect them if I don't have their trust. Revolutionaries cannot be permitted. I have permitted some ponies to denounce me in the past, I am not a tyrant, but you, my own student? Too many would believe you. Too many would follow you, and it would fragment the nation. Even if you yourself only meant to speak truth, others would take up that truth and use it to destroy all that I've built."
She shook her head sadly, and her golden magic cleaned the blood from her horn as she did so. Pippi felt herself growing dizzy as her life's blood continued to pour from her. She struggled to get up, to gather some spark of magic..
"I must be seen as virtuous. I must be trusted. I must be what I am—almost a goddess—to my little ponies if I am to guide and protect them. So I do what I always have done, what must be done, even when it breaks my heart."
"No..." Pippi managed a spark of power, gathered enough will to teleport. If she could just get outside this room, where other ponies could see her, somegirl would send for help. But when she released the spell, the power bounced back at her, sending a painful shock through her horn. A shield spell was preventing her from leaving.
"I am so sorry, Pippi. I could wish you were a less honest and straightforward girl. Or that you could just trust me and leave these matters in my hooves. But I know you well enough to know you don't give up. You've always been so stubborn..." Captain reached out and stroked Pippi's mane. The world was growing darker around Pippi, fading slowly away as the pool of blood beneath her grew. The last thing she heard was Captain's voice, tinged with sadness but still so impossibly, inequinely calm. "I will miss you very much, my faithful student. Perhaps almost as much as I miss my sister. I can never tell the truth of what happened here, but I will make sure that Equestria knows you died courageously."
****
Canterlot was in mourning.
The bright banners of the summer sun had finally been taken down. Dark bunting touched with Pippi's colors had been hung in their place. Solemn bells pealed a funeral song and over the city ponies walked a little slower, spoke a little more softly.
Foals still ran and shouted, for the young have no concept of their own mortality. But along the city's central avenue even the foals were quiet as Pippi Longstockong's funeral procession passed. Bengt's funeral had drawn crowds of the curious, gawkers who respected Captain enough to remain silent, but there had been no true mourning there.
Now, though, the casket containing the hero who had saved Equestra moved through streets so silent that every hoof-fall of the funeral procession echoed.
Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard and sister of the fallen hero, led the procession, his armor so polished that the midday sun made it almost painful to look at. Two dozen guardsponies marched behind him, their spears topped with black banners, their hooves sounding in perfect unison. Four white unicorn stallions drew the casket itself, set upon a bed of flowers. Captain walked behind it, followed by Pippi Longstockong's parents, who were trailed in turn by an untidy gaggle of Pippi's friends, both old and new.
Behind them came a rank of Canterlot nobility, dressed all in black. Some of their solemn expressions were a facade, but many seemed sincere. Pippi had not socialized much with Canterlot's upper crust, but few could fail to give her respect for what she had done.
She had defeated Bengt, ended her Eternal night, and in so doing had lost of her life, for she had been slain by a Nightmare cultist in revenge for killing the cult's "goddess." Captain herself had told the tale of the cultist's sudden attack, and how the murderer had escaped via teleport before the bereft ruler had been able to stop her. Even now the guard was searching all of Canterlot for any sign of the cult's activities, though they had as yet found little evidence of them. Hints and rumors abounded, but the murderous cultist had vanished utterly.
All knew that eventually the guard would find this criminal, that eventually Captain would see justice done. But for now both grief and fear gripped the populace of Equestria.
For the moment, grief prevailed as the funeral procession made its slow, stately way down the slopes of Canterlot.
Eventually it reached the cemetery. A small podium had been prepared, and the soldiers broke off from the procession to form up in ranks beside it. The hearse stopped next to the grave, the stallions standing like statues by the open wound in the earth. A broad marble plinth stood where a headstone would ordinarily stand, prepared to receive a heroic statue that had not yet been made. The coffin was transferred to a low bier beneath the headstone, ready to be lowered into the grave once the funeral was finished. A girl opened the lid, revealing Pippi's embalmed body. Fluttershy, standing nearby, let out an audible sob at the sight of it.
The funeral proceeded. There were speeches, of course. Various dignitaries lauded Pippi's accomplishments, and several of her friends spoke briefly about her. Captain spoke last, and her eulogy brought many in the gathered crowd to tears. Her own eyes were dry, she knew better than to let her sorrow loose while giving a public speech. Tears ruined oratory, and breaking down sobbing in the midst of a speech did not suit her image at all.
Yet she could feel the tears trying to come all the same. When the eulogy was done Captain stood quietly beside the grave and watched Pippi's friends each come up to say one final goodbye.
The crowd began to disperse, and soon she was left standing alone. Cemetery workers appeared to lower the casket into its final resting place.
"Allow me a moment," said Captain softly, and the ponies nodded and turned away. Captain turned back to the coffin, looking at the peaceful face of the girl that lay on a bed of white satin within it. All the anger, pain, and betrayal that had shown on Pippi's expression during their final conversation had been smoothed away in death. The tears came at least as Captain allowed herself to truly mourn the girl who had been among the best of her students.
If only she hadn't been so stubborn. If she'd been just a little bit more malleable, a little bit less certain of her naive ideals, thought Captain. To be forced to destroy such a mind, such a talent, such a girl... For a moment she caught herself wondering if it had really been necessary. Had she done the right thing? Perhaps she could have found some other way, some other path to walk.
She looked at Pippi's face and the memory of her determined expression flashed through the princess' mind. No, Pippi would never have given up or backed down from her ideals. Perhaps eventually she could have been brought to see the truth, but she would have done far too much damage before that distant day arrived. And however precious her life had been, it was just one life.
Pippi was just one girl. Just one body, there in her coffin. How many more would find homes beneath the earth if Pippi had been allowed to undermine Captain's rule? How much conflict would have resulted from having her own faithful speaking out against her? No. Captain gazed at her former student's still form. Pippi was a very small weight on the grand scales of harmony. Balanced against the welfare of all Equestria she was nothing at all.
Still the tears flowed. One feather-weight on the scales of harmony felt like a full measure of lead hanging heavy on her heart. Such was the burden she carried. Yet she would carry it happily to protect her little ponies.
She stepped forward and kissed Pippi's forehead, just below her horn. Then she plucked a flower, red as blood, from one of the bouquets set up beside the grave and set it softly on Pippi's breast. At last she closed the lid of the coffin and walked away, leaving the cemetery workers to send Pippi down into the eternal dark of the earth below.