…
What a luck that the construction spells can be clarified from memory even before the Luna’s betrayal — it’s not very pleasant to dive in there either, but at least it’s not… I didn’t think the thought through, and I forced my will to throw it away. I saw what I wanted to see, nothing more was required, the question is closed. Sizzling and cursing quietly, I somehow got up from the grass — the damaged side immediately reminded me of itself, when I began to be active — and, limping, went down to the lake, to where the sandy beach began Let’s try to put on a pile of bricks on the shore, shall we? I chuckled briefly and lighted the horn.…
Yeah. It will be long before I reach Nightmare Moon’s level… Why did the unicorns in canon rarely use anything other than telekinesis and maybe some magic flashlights? Because the damn bricks turned out to be more complicated than the usual telekinesis by more than an order of magnitude! And even more costly by several times! There was a small model of Stonehenge made of bricks in front of me on the sand — not giant blocks of stone, but quite normal-sized — and I myself, in addition to my side, eyebrow, and cheek, was now suffering from a headache, that was vilely reverberating in my horn. I knew clearly, that I was doing something wrong — it shouldn’t be this hard — but I had no experience of knowing what it was. Definitely, I should pay attention to the magic books and figure it out when I get a chance. Or, alternatively, I could dig deep into my memory to figure out exactly how to do all the parts of the spell, and in half an hour or so the bricks wouldn’t be a problem. But I’d rather waste a month on books and my own learning than go into Nightmare’s memory one more time. Sometimes I wish I could find a mentalist here and erase her… I turned my attention back to reality, glancing again at the result of my labor. Still, the model of Stonehenge, made of authentic gray stone bricks — or should I say, solid granite parallelepipeds shaped like bricks — was heartening: it may still be crooked and unskilled magic, but it is magic! My own! And no matter how you look at it — it’s complicated enough, that not everyone will be able to repeat it! I sniffed. Yeah, keep saying, archmage. When you build yourself a tower of stone, fifty meters high, out of what’s lying around, only then you can rise your nose. But for now — shut up. By the way, the idea is a good one — home made by your own hands… Or hooves should I say. Yeah… By the way, how much time has past? I glanced at the Sun and pressed my lips together in annoyance. Yeah, of course, what else would you expect in Equestria? The thermonuclear light bulb hung motionless in the sky, the same place it had been hours before when the chariot had dropped me off. And yes, it’s better not to think how it works, you’ll be healthier… I walked around, stretching my legs, that were swelled from standing in the same position for so long. I’ve been building for at least an hour, and no one has visited me yet. Strange, but how many urgent matters could Princess have? I pressed the cool metal of my shoe to my humming head. It’s done for the magic part today for sure. My gaze, mindlessly glancing around, rested again on the lake. Hey, why not? I just don’t have anything more to do… It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get rid of my armor and bags, and soon I was walking leisurely towards the water, preoccupied by the unusual sensation of the sand under my hooves: only now did I fully notice, that the hard hooves were also quite sensitive. I paused at the water’s edge for a few seconds and looked at my reflection. The reflection stared back at me tiredly, flaunting a bump on its left eyebrow, that was visible even in the ripples. You’re lying, I don’t look that bad! I slammed my hoof into the reflection, turning it into a fuzzy silhouette smeared across the diverging waves. The water was a pleasant temperature, so I didn’t linger any longer and moved on, enjoying the way it cooled my injured side. Surprisingly, the bottom was sandy and flat, which, in my experience, is somewhat unusual for lakes. I was in the water up to my neck, and I stopped abruptly. Wait a minute, can I swim at all? I pressed my legs together and tried to stay afloat. Well… In principle it worked, but there were serious problems with stability — I have to work my legs all the time to not fall aside, and working with my legs was quite unpleasant. I wouldn’t risk testing active swimming just yet. When I come to my senses first, then I’ll try it… “A-a, f!..” Musing, I stopped paddling to keep myself afloat, lost my balance, and fell over in surprise, hitting the water. A few minutes later, after coughing and catching my breath, I thought about going back to shore, but… I didn’t want to get out of the water at all. In the end, having decided, that the state of the body allows this, I preferred to stay and experiment a little more: I held my breath and dived under water. A curious discovery awaited me almost immediately: the huge pony’s eyes felt perfectly well under water, though the visibility was just like that of a human — disgusting. And also the water cooled down my head nicely, which was boiling because of the magic trainings. Nice-e-e… As I reached the surface and took a breath, I dived again, trying not to disturb the sand, and crouched at the bottom, trying to see what was on it, keeping myself from surfacing by careful work with my wings. I didn’t find any of the interesting pebbles, that I… used to love to collect, so I got out of the water, noticing with displeasure the sand clinging to the wet fur of my feet and the sudden weight of my wings. I reached the grass and shook myself off vigorously, scattering glistening splashes around me, and howled when my head reminded me, that shaking was not good for it, and my injured side readily agreed. I cringed at the set of “wonderful” sensations, and plopped down on the croup next to my things. Okay, what’s the result? I guess I still need to learn how to swim, but I can still do a few things, and I’m pretty good at staying on the water, too. As long as I’m not distracted, yep… The most interesting part, of course, are the eyes. The ponies' huge spy holes clearly have some sort of protection against outside influence, which is logical, in principle, given their size and importance. I wonder if that’s true of everyone, or is it a trait unique to alicorns? After I dried myself off, and, with difficulty, got rid of the sand on my feet, I got into my gear. After I adjusted my breastplate, putting the bags over it, and made sure it was nice and straight, I looked up and shivered from surprise: a lavender unicorn was hesitating in front of me, a few feet away. “I… Well…” She started shyly, noticing, that has my attention. What did you forget here, horny scarecrow?! Got here, fucking hell… “Get lost, ay?” I interrupted the mare gloomily. “B-but…” She bit her lip. Her attempt to object, however, was interrupted in the most unexpected way. There was a rhythmic clap, a sharp gust of wind threw dust and grass in my face, and when I opened my eyes and waited, I found Princess Celestia between me and Twilight. And she looked — quite expectedly, perhaps — not very friendly. To put it mildly. “NIGHTMARE MOON!!!” The acoustic blow from the “Canterlot voice” made my ears ring, my teeth ached, and my head hurt like hell, and it wasn’t healthy already. I retreated a few steps, hissing painfully, and put a cool shoe on my forehead to wait out the pain. “I’m happy to see you again too, Princess.” Recovering a bit, I said, trying to sound cheerfully despite the state of the body: now we need to knock her out of the mood to solve the problem radically by throwing my body into the lake, and move everything into the realm of dialog. “But I beg you — a bit more quiet, please. I hope you really want to tackle all this mayhem… “Which mayhem? Explain yourself!” Celestia ordered harshly, drilling a hole in me with a heavy gaze. “By which right did you…” “Your Highness!” The Twilight’s voice interrupted the angry alicorn unexpectedly. Tia looked back at the student perplexedly. I examined the unicorn with a gaze as well, narrowing eyes. Come on, tell Princess how evilly and cruelly Nightmare wanted to take over the town and at which heavy cost you managed to stop her. Off you go. You have come alone not without a reason, haven’t you? There’s no one to challenge your words… “What, Twilight?” Princess cheered the hesitating mare up. She wasn’t in a hurry to get me down for some reason — all her stance showed despair, eyes were filled with tears. Hm? “Princess Celestia!” Twilight said to Tia, working up the courage. “Nightmare is not the one to blame in what happened! It’s… It’s all… My fault.” The drooped unicorn ended depressingly, sobbing quietly. Wow. It was a hard one. I looked at Twilight anew, feeling the negative towards her vanishing, being replaced by respect. Not everyone is capable of admitting guilt, especially in the case of not being caught in the act, when there is a chance to hide everything — and no one will find out. And in front of whom to admit it! I felt embarrassed by my recent thoughts. “You?” Princess was astonished, and with a quick glance at me, she turned to her student. “But what happened, Twilight?” “I…” The mare sighed in a blood-curdling way. “I got so caught up in my books last night, that when Spike tried to distract me, I guess I just brushed it off — tomorrow, tomorrow! — So… and I…” the unicorn sobbed. “I’m an awful stu-udent! I let eve… Everyone down! Sorry, Princess Celestia, p… Please, forgi-i-ive me!” Not being able to stand it, Twi cried her heart out, looking absolutely unhappy, getting down onto the grass. Tia, giving her student a pitying look, settled down on the grass beside her, stroked her with her wing, and began to comfort her, saying something in her ear. I stepped back a few steps and turned away, not knowing where to put myself in such a situation. The sight of other people’s tears always put me in a stupor, and simultaneously caused an unpleasant feeling, that it was all my fault. I cannot stand that paradoxical feeling of guilt mixed with helplessness. I never understood what to do in such moments… I frowned, looking around for something to do, while Princess soothed Twilight, and then I noticed a trio of ponies approaching us. Applejack and Rarity glared at me with cautious and unkind looks, obviously seeing me as the cause of their friend’s tears. “Thanks for believing in me.” I chuckled in thought. Pinkie nodded affectionately, staying beside me for a moment, and then caught up with her friends, who had stopped a little away from Princess and were now looking sympathetically at the tearful unicorn. Tia’s efforts, meanwhile, were paying off: Twilight’s inconsolable cries were gradually replaced by sobs, and soon they were silenced as well. Celestia gently stepped down from her student and, rising to her feet, nodded greetings to the approaching Keepers of Elements, gesturing for them to come closer. The mares, bowing courteously to the ruler, approached. I came too, standing a little away from the friendly company. “Now I’d like to find out what happened here.” Alicorn put a dispassionate expression back on her face and looked around at the crowd, glancing at me for a moment. “Well… When I woke up late this morning, I was surprised to find your letter on my desk, and when I read it… Oh…” Twilight sighed sorrowfully. “I had to go galloping without a plan, trying to get anything done in time! I had hoped to at least gather my friends and inform the mayor first… But I didn’t even have time to do that!” The mare finished in a droopy voice and sniffed her nose. “When the streets began to get deserted.” She continued after a brief pause. “And the passersby urged us to hide, too, it was clear, that it was too late and Nightmare was here. We met her halfway to Rainbow Dash — she was standing over our friend, pressing her to the ground with her telekinesis — and we thought…” She hesitated. “That evil Nightmare has come to rob, burn, and make an eternal night.” I said with a wry grin, earning a gloomy look from Princess and a sad sigh from Twilight. “Applejack asked her to let Dash go and get back.” The unicorn continued her story after gathering her courage. “Honestly, I didn’t think it would help, and I was already wondering how we could stop Nightmare without the Elements, but she just stepped back, letting us get closer. Rainbow got it badly…” Twilight finished sadly and paused again to catch her breath. “What happened to her?” Princess asked, giving me a long, cold look, that didn’t bode well. I answered with mine, now calm and confident: the lavender unicorn’s desperate confession hardly left anything to charge me with. I’ve been fabricating so much about her… Fucking paranoid. “The hospital told us, Your Highness.” Rarity said, filling in for her friend, who has fallen apart. “The poor mare has two cracked ribs and extensive soft tissue contusions. With an injury like that next to her wing, poor Dash won’t be able to fly for over a month!” The white unicorn gave me a judgmental look with her lips pressed together. “Nightmare, I’m listening.” Celestia turned to me, nodding at the Elements. Her voice sounded like it could freeze water, but at least she was willing to listen to all points of view, which was nice. “Well…” I started, gathering thoughts and rolling the events of this day in my mind. “The chariot dropped me off on that hill about an hour after you and I parted at Canterlot…”…
“…After that came Twilight, and then, almost immediately, there was you.” I finished my story. Even with the fact, that I only recounted our encounter with Dash in detail, describing everything else in extremely concise and single-spaced terms, it did take me more than half an hour to tell the story. “I guess I can understand your actions…” Celestia said thoughtfully after a long pause. “But such harshness was unnecessary, Nightmare. You could have stopped Rainbow without hurting her like that.” Princess chided me. “I could have, if I had known in advance, that it was a mistake and not a deliberate attack.” I objected. “Such a response was justified to an unprovoked aggression.” “Justified by what?” Princess reacted sharply. “You could have solved it differently, but you have chosen brutal force instead!” “Dash did the same.” I resembled. “And if someone attacks me, then it justifies my self-defense.” “And still, I beg you to abstain from such “justified” measures thenceforth, Nightmare Especially in cases, when you can go without it.” Her Highness looked at me piercingly, narrowing a bit her huge pink eyes. “Okay.” I nodded shortly at Princess, earning a long, watchful gaze and a slow nod from her. Damn… I’m tired a bit, hey… Can’t stand such talks, especially with headache. “Twilight.” Tia said to the unicorn, who has been staring at the ground the whole time I’ve been talking. “What happened after you… parted with Nightmare Moon?” “Well…” She raised her tearful eyes to Princess. “The first thing we did was take Dash to the hospital, and then we met in the library to write you about what happened and to decide what we should do next. To be honest, I was hoping you might be able to give me some advice soon…” “Sorry, Twilight.” Tia, smiling guilty, leaned her head a bit. “As you see, Princess don’t get important information in time sometimes.” “You have nothing to be sorry, Your Highness…” The unicorn sighed with annoyance. “You count on me, and all I can do is write you a letter for every problem and wait for a reply with a solution!” She finished in a ringing voice and wiped a tear from her face with a sob. “Calm down, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie hugged her as she came closer. “Don’t be so worried, everything is going to be fine!” “It is not!” She panted in answer. “Everything I was capable of without help — panic!” “Don’t be so categorical, Twilight.” The mentor addressed the unicorn. “In the end, you’ve been able to take yourself in hoof and found out about the situation, haven’t you?” “No.” The unicorn grumbled gloomily. “I was barely soothed by my friends. Then Pinkie suggested I go see Rainbow and ask her about what happened. So we did. Dash said, that when she saw Nightmare doing something to the pony — Honey Fleur, as she described — she immediately rushed to her rescue. After visiting Rainbow, we decided to question Fleur as well, so that she could tell us how she met Nightmare. From Honey’s story, we learned, that she is new to Ponyville and does not yet know the town very well, so when the alarm went off, she was nervous and could not remember the way home. It was at an unfamiliar intersection that Nightmare caught her. Unfortunately, Fleur was so frightened, that she couldn’t remember the encounter and could only tell, that Nightmare seemed to be trying not to hurt her. And when Dash knocked her down and told Honey to run, she chose to follow the advice. That’s when I realized that it was all my fault.” Twilight finished tiredly, wiping away a tear again. “If only I had read the letter in time and prepared everything!” She sighed heartbreakingly, to which she was embraced again by Pinkie. “When we returned to the library, Twilight was terribly worried, Your Highness.” Rarity continued the story for her friend. “We had barely calmed her down when Pinkie suddenly said she had to leave and hurried off before we could find out what was wrong! When we were about to look for her, she found us and told us, that she had gone to comfort Nightmare Moon!” The white unicorn’s voice was one of undisguised amazement. “We, of course, have already understood, that this incident is an unpleasant misunderstanding, but …” The mare made an indefinite gesture. “But we were surprised not for a bit.” Applejack, who has been silent the whole conversation, said. “We quickly went around the town, warned everypony, prepared a little, yeah… and decided, since Pinkie asked, that everyone should go here… But while Pinkie was gathering us, Twilight ran away here alone! We, of course, could not leave her alone and came along to support her. It’s never easy to apologize, and it’s never easy to be alone… Don’t ya worry, sugarcube, we won’t leave ya.” The farmer smiled warmly at Twilight, who has already recovered somewhat and was now standing next to also smiling Pinkie Pie. “Thank you.” The unicorn froze for a moment cutely. Sighing and lifting head defiantly, she made a step towards me. “I should have shown you everything from the best side, but instead I ruined it and blamed you without even knowing it… I’m sorry, I really am!” Honestly, I’ve never heard people apologize to each other in this kind of situation, which may be very bad, but it’s a domestic situation. Sincerely, with a kind of trepidation about what they will be answered, whether they will be forgiven… “Sorry, I didn’t mean to”, “sorry, it was a mistake”, “shit, sorry, it was my fault” — usually it’s like that, without any pressure, calmly, even a little aloof. On the other hand, I’ve never shed blood in a fight over someone else’s screw-ups before, either… “Okay. No offence taken.” I smiled with corners of my lips at the mare. I really wasn’t angry with Twilight anymore: I was hurt by the accusation, of course, but I was also very impressed by her confession to Celestia, and it made my conversation with Princess a lot easier, which could have had a blurry outcome otherwise. And I just feel a bit sorry for her: I’m the only one, who knows, that Tia wouldn’t do anything to her — smiling aside, damned mastermind — but the unicorn herself was clearly not so sure of her mentor’s forgiveness. “Thanks.” Twilight smiled with a relief and turned to the alicorn. “Princess Celestia! I let you down… I…” Twi stopped mid-word, not being able to continue. “We all, alas, sometimes make mistakes: misjudge what is happening, neglect something important…” said Celestia, looking thoughtfully and a little sadly into the distance. “Some of these mistakes can be prevented if you know how. Unfortunately, you often get this knowledge only from your own experience, drawing conclusions from the results of your wrong decision. To be able to learn from your mistakes is an important, even if unpleasant, skill, and I hope, that you will make the right conclusions from this situation.” Princess looked sternly at the student and… immediately gently hugged her. “It wasn’t easy for you today, but I’m glad you were able to clear up the misunderstanding and find the strength to admit your mistake and try to fix it. And… know this, Twilight: I will never send you away or leave you alone.” “Really?” The unicorn looked unbelievingly at her mentor, stepping back a little. Princess smiled warmly and nodded in response. “Thanks! Thank you!” Twi nestled against the alicorn once again. I glanced around, and when I saw the ponies genuinely happy for their friend, I couldn’t hold back a smile myself. “Well, I’m happy, that everything worked out like this.” Tia stepped back from the student after a minute. Princess stepped aside to see us all. For some reason I thought for a moment, that this simple action was a bit of a strain on her. Friends, meanwhile, lined up side by side, practically touching each other and a little away from me. “Nightmare.” I turned my gaze at Celestia. “This unpleasant incident, unfortunately, has shown you ponies in a bad light, but I hope you’ll give us a second chance. I also hope that here you’ll make friends, learn to trust others, and be gentler in your decisions.” Princess hinted transparently at my “excessive self-defense”. “And be sure to visit the hospital: your injuries need proper care. Get used to it, and if anything, write to me and I’ll try to help.” I silently nodded at Celestia as a reply. “Twilight.” She addressed her student. “Nightmare may be in a need of your help to settle down in our modern world, so drastically changed during the centuries. I count on you, not leaving her in this uneasy situation and learning more about friendship by helping her. I will wait for your letters of friendship as usual, every Tuesday, but, of course, you can always write to me at other times, too, if you need my advice.” “All right, Princess Celestia!” Twilight nodded at her mentor with enthusiasm. “Then farewell, my little ponies…” Suddenly, Tia cringed, and in a gesture, familiar from personal experience, put her shoe to her forehead beneath her horn. Looks like she was rushing her not in the best from — this is why I thought, that her smile is so unnatural… “Princess Celestia!” “Your Highness, do you need help?” Worried mares rushed to Tia. “No-no, thank you, I’m fine.” She smiled forcedly, putting down the hoof from her forehead. “I just need a little rest.” “Every one of us is ready to accommodate you in our houses, Your Highness!” Rarity bowed elegantly. “Our food may not be as fine as at Canterlot, and our furniture may not be as rich and comfortable, but we will be happy to please you in any way we can!” “Thanks for the offer, Rarity.” Tia smiled with the edges of her lips. “But I’m afraid I cannot accept it.” “But why, Your Highness?” The unicorn drooped. “Is it because our h-houses are so squalid, and… And…” “No-no, that’s not the case at all!” Celestia interrupted the almost crying designer in a hurry. “I just don’t want to attract the attention of the townsfolk now, and that’s inevitable if I go with you. All I want is a good healthy, restful sleep for at least an hour, and then I’ll return to Canterlot at once.” “But where are you going to sleep?” Twilight was surprised. “I’ll remember my youth and sleep on a cloud.” She said, smiling at some memory of her own, and nodded at the cloud, floating by on the side of the Everfree Forest. “Farewell, my little ponies. I really need a rest right now.” Hearing goodbyes back, Princess flapped her wings, flung herself into the air, and slowly, with obvious tension, flew towards that cloud, where she settled under my dazed gaze. I shook my head and turned away. The picture of a no small horse weighing, at a guess, about three hundred kilograms, walking calmly on a cloud of water vapor did not fit in my mind. Damn, it’s not a cartoon! How can it be real? What a crazy world.