The Successors: Chapter 9

Aside from Whirlwind, Blue Moon and Summer Sun didn’t have many close friends growing up.  This didn’t bother them terribly – they always had each other, after all – but there were times when Blue seemed almost reclusive, and that worried Summer.  The golden-maned filly was always the livelier and more outgoing of the two, always eager to introduce herself even if she didn’t form many lasting friendships, and at times it pained her to see her sister languishing in solitude; it seemed to her that Blue was really missing out.

Blue, for her part, was mostly content.  The other foals she met at school always greeted her with kind, smiling faces, and though they rarely shared anything beyond that, she wasn’t bothered.  She was solitary by nature, detached and terminally bookish, often seeming rather more grown-up than she really was. At any rate, she was usually perfectly happy to maintain her relationships with Summer and Whirlwind and leave it at that.  Still, there was one area of her life where she wished she didn’t feel so alone: dealing with Picture Perfect.

Picture’s torment had grown fiercer and fiercer as the months passed.  She threw everything she had at her: verbal taunts and jeers, “accidental” bumps and jostles that left Blue sprawled across the dirt or knee-deep in a mud puddle, even stealthily swiping her homework and causing Blue’s grades to suffer.  Whirlwind and Summer were always quick to leap to Blue’s defense, but the damage, more often than not, had already been done.  As the school year drew toward a close, it was becoming clearer and clearer that Picture’s prolonged abuse was finally starting to wear her victim down.

It was late in the year when things finally took a different turn.  Winter was in full swing now, and the trees all stood bare and dark against the gray afternoon sky.  Summer had gone home from school early, complaining of a stomachache (which was probably her own fault; their mother had packed each sister a cupcake for desert at lunchtime, and when Blue said she wasn’t very hungry Summer had happily eaten them both).  She was sitting restlessly on their front porch, waiting for her sister to come home, when she caught sight of Blue trudging solemnly down the dirt lane that led to their house.  As she drew closer, Summer saw that her sister’s head was hung low and her slow hoofsteps dragged through the dirt, as though a heavy weight were chained to each leg.  She could tell by Blue’s expression alone that Picture Perfect was to blame; it was an expression she had gotten used to seeing day after day.

Forlornly, Blue climbed the porch steps and slumped heavily next to her sister.  Her midnight-black mane fell obscuringly over her face, hiding her downcast eyes.

“Blue, why do you keep letting her do this?”  There was something akin to anger in Summer’s voice.  “Doesn’t it make you mad?”

“Of course it makes me mad!” Blue snapped, startling her sister.  Days, weeks, months of unexpressed anger suddenly came boiling up all at once.  “She thinks she’s so much better than everypony – and – and she’s not!  But she just HAS to prove she’s the best, and she HAS to make everypony else feel like dirt to do it.  She only picks on me because it’s her way of showing off.  I can’t stand it!”

“But – then we oughta do something about it!” Summer exclaimed.  “We could tell Mom and Dad, or get the other foals to gang up on her, or, or – or something!”

“No – no,” Blue insisted, shaking her head as her temper began to cool.  She almost seemed ashamed to have lost her composure.  “She’ll have to stop eventually.  I’ve just got to learn how to ignore her, and sooner or later she’ll give up trying to make me mad.”  She spoke robotically, as though she didn’t much believe her own words.  It was just her way, her solitary way, of dealing with a problem, and nothing could dissuade her from it.  “Just… just gotta ignore her, and keep going….”  As her voice trailed off, she stood up and slunk sadly into the house.  A moment later, the screen door banged shut behind her, leaving a disconcerted Summer sitting by herself on the porch.

The instant Blue had gone, a hard, resolute expression etched itself across Summer’s normally good-humored face as a plan hatched in her mind.  She knew exactly what she was going to do.  She would show Blue how to handle a bully.  And she would do it all by herself.

Though Aurora had planned to take a nap that afternoon, she found her mind growing restless by the time she returned to her room.  On the way to the high tower she had passed Lantern Jaw in the hallway, on his way from one guard shift to another.  She was pleased to be able to deliver him some good news – that the source of the Nightmare Moon rumors had been identified, and a way had been found to help his ailing father.

At this news Lantern Jaw smiled.  It was almost a startling sight; normally his face was so cold and stony that even the slightest flicker of warmth made him look like a different stallion altogether.  “That’s wonderful, your highness,” he said in an uncharacteristically cheerful voice.  Clearly his father was very dear to him.  “But, er… you wouldn’t happened to have found the missing foals, would you?”

“Oh… no, I’m sorry,” Aurora answered.  “The two issues apparently weren’t related.  The council is organizing its own investigation, but we didn’t turn up anything about that.”

“Oh.”  For just an instant, Lantern Jaw’s face fell.  He quickly recovered his stoic expression, ashamed to have let it down in the first place, but it was too late – Aurora had seen his disappointment.  She eyed him curiously, as if asking him to speak his mind, but he only muttered, “My apologies, your highness.  It’s nothing important.”

The princess grimaced in her mind.  There were times she hated the air of authority she had to carry as a ruler; it made ponies so uptight, so reticent.  She lowered her voice and gave him a friendly smile.  “Lantern Jaw, you can talk to me.  Anything that concerns my subjects is important.  What’s on your mind?”

It took him a moment to reply.  “Well… you see, your highness… my younger brother is one of the missing foals.  I had hoped that he’d be found before father woke up, but….”  He trailed off.  Speaking his thoughts so freely obviously made him uncomfortable.  Sensing this, Aurora reached out and put a gentle hoof on his shoulder.  He stiffened at her touch, but said nothing as she looked him squarely in the eye.

“He will be found,” Aurora told him firmly.  “Something will be done.  I promise you that.”

He smiled timidly.  “Thank you, Princess.”  With that, the guard and the princess parted.

Something will be done

…. Those words continued to weigh on Aurora’s mind even as she returned to her bedchamber.  With a heavy sigh she threw herself across her wide round bed, resting not-quite-comfortably on her side.  Thoughts swirled around her head in a dizzying jumble – Stargazer’s abuse, Somnambula’s plan, Ghost’s whimpering, Corona’s worries, her own promise to Lantern Jaw – it was a lot to take in for one afternoon.  Frustrated, she rose and made for her balcony, hoping that the fresh air beautiful view might put her in an easier state of mind.

The view was indeed beautiful, she reflected as she stepped onto the balcony.  Looking west down from the mountains, she could see the mighty Neighagra River, sparkling in the afternoon sun, flowing through wide green fields and lush woodlands, interrupted every so often by quaint stone bridges or tall railway trestles.  At the far edge of her sight she could just make out the dark green line of the Everfree Forest and the grim gray Drackenridge Mountains beyond.  In the sky above the woods, tall white clouds piled up menacingly, brooding and growing darker in preparation for a storm.  Given the wild weather patterns in that region, there was no telling when the clouds might burst – perhaps within the next few hours.

Aurora returned to her room.  The view wasn’t helping at all.

For a long time she law resting atop her bed in a troubled semi-sleep, turning over and over in discomfort as vague, unpleasant dreams swam through her mind – frightened shouts, flashes of lighting, bad memories both old and recent.  A gloomy shadow lay over her as if a storm were gathering at the edge of her consciousness, looming and threatening.  But eventually the storm seemed to pass, and her mind drifted into calmer and more restful places.

She was awoken some hours later by a knock at the door.  Before Aurora could so much as raise her head, Corona stepped inside, not even bothering to wait for an answer.  “Hey Blue,” the sun princess offered in greeting.  “Sorry to bother you.”  Though she wore a pleasant smile, Corona’s voice was completely drained of its usual cheer.  The now-familiar owl perched on her back didn’t look any happier than she did.

“It’s no problem,” Aurora assured her, sitting up.  “Not bothered at all.  What’s on your mind?”

“I dunno.  Everything, really.”  Corona sighed tiredly, making her way to Aurora’s bedside.  Once there, her changeling friend hopped down onto the bed in a brief flutter of feathers.  One swirling flash of green light later, and the owl was gone, and a thin black insectoid creature had taken its place.  Ghost panted, wearied from these constant transformations, and lay down on her stomach to rest.  Aurora was surprised a moment later when the tired little changeling spoke.

“Mm… tried.  Wanna sleep.”  Her words came in soft, scratchy squeaks, but her elocution was clear and precise.  In a moment her emerald eyes fell shut and she began to snore softly.

“Wow,” said Aurora.  “She sure is picking up speech quickly.”

Corona nodded.  “I think she already knew how to talk, but she lived by herself for so long she just kinda forgot.  She doesn’t say much, though.  Maybe she’s still too afraid.”

“You’re worried about her, aren’t you?” Aurora asked perceptively.

“A little,” Corona admitted.  “A lot, actually.  I mean, I want her to be happy, but…. I just don’t know about this.”

“Summer, I promise you that this is for the best.  Somnambula knows what’s she’s talking about.  She wouldn’t insist on taking her home if there were any doubt that she’d be happier there.”

“Well – actually, Blue, about Professor Somnambula….”

“Yes?”

“I… do you think we can trust her?”

“Trust her?” Aurora echoed in surprise.  “Summer, what are you talking about?”

“Well… Ghost doesn’t like her.  I mean, she really doesn’t like her.  Right from the second we bumped into her, Ghost just started trembling and wouldn’t even look up.  Somnambula said it was because changelings sometimes get scared of powerful unicorns, but Glass Eye said something different, and… I dunno, Blue.  Something doesn’t seem right.”

“It doesn’t sound to me like there’s anything to – ”

“Oh!  That reminds me,” Corona interjected, suddenly remembering another point.  “You know how Glass Eye said he hadn’t seen Somnambula in a really long time?  She says it’s ‘cause she’s been so busy working, but nopony at all knows what she’s up to – not even any of the other professors.  I talked to Glass Eye again and he said that none of her friends know what she’s up to half the time.”

“Summer, I don’t think – ”

“And that’s not all, either!  Don’t you think it’s really weird that she finished working on her cure for changeling sickness right when we needed it?  I mean, Lord Stargazer said she’d been working on it for years, but it just seems really – ”

“Summer!”  Aurora’s voice was stern, stern enough to silence her sister in an instant.  Corona looked back at her, confused and expectant.  The dark-maned princess heaved a gentle sigh of exasperation and softened her voice before continuing.  “Summer, I understand.  Believe me, I do.  In the months since we came here, I’ve met all kinds of ponies – nobles, generals, diplomats – and sometimes I feel like they’re hiding things from me, that I’m not getting the whole truth, so I know what you’re feeling.  But right now… right now, I think you’re just being paranoid.”

“I’m… what?” Corona was taken aback.  “Blue, what’re you saying?”

“You don’t want to let go of Ghost,” Aurora explained.  “So you’re noticing things that aren’t really there.  Somnambula’s just a very busy pony who prefers to work alone.  That’s no reason to be suspicious of her.”

“But… but what about Ghost?  Why would she be so afraid of her?  There must be something weird about her!”

“Ghost?”  Aurora looked back down at the changeling, who by now had fallen asleep.  She was snoring softly, her breath coming in gentle wheezes.  It was a sweet picture, but Aurora was unmoved by it.  “Ghost is just an adolescent changeling that we found in a swamp less than a day ago.  Are you really going to let her inform your judgment of one of the most respected professors in Canterlot?”

“But – but – ”

“You’ve gotten attached to her, I know.  But she’s just a vagrant, Summer, and until yesterday she was half-crazed and starving.  Somnambula is Glass Eye’s own granddaughter.  Which one are you going to trust?”

For a moment Corona didn’t speak.  She glanced back and forth between Aurora and Ghost with a deepening frown as a look of tortured indecision crawled across her face.  Soon her indecision gave way to shame, and she hung her head sadly.  Silently, she crawled onto the bed and leaned against her sister.  “I’m sorry, Blue.  I just don’t know what to think anymore, about anything.  I wish we didn’t have to do this.  I… I wish we could just go home.”

The night princess nuzzled her back, surprised by her sudden change of mood.  “I’m sorry too, Summer.  But this… this is just what we have to do.”

Corona made no reply, and Aurora felt helpless.  She scrabbled through her mind in search of something more comforting to say, but her efforts turned up nothing.  For a minute or so she simply sat there, letting her sister rest against her as she mulled over the situation.  Corona seldom complained of homesickness; she was always so optimistic, so excited for the future and for her new life, that to hear her longing for the past troubled Aurora deeply.

At length, an idea finally dawned on her.  “Hey, Summer… why don’t we go home?  After all this is over, I mean – after Ghost’s been taken care of.  Would paying Mom and Dad a visit make you feel any better?”

“Can… can we do that?”  Corona looked up to meet Aurora’s eyes, her soft voice full of tentative hope.  “Do you think they’d let us?”

“Of course they would!  These are our days off, after all.  We can spend them however we like.  I’m sure Glass Eye can make arrangements for the trip.  Would you like that?”

A warm, genuine smile broke out on Corona’s face.  “Sure, Blue.  That sounds great.”

Aurora smiled back.  “Great.  I’ll talk to him about it tonight.”  She glanced aside as her expression darkened just a tad.  “I know I haven’t talked about it much, but… I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately, like I’m in over my head.  Just being home again, being somewhere safe and familiar… I think it would do us both a world of good.”

Corona giggled.  “Well, then I’m glad you thought of it!”

“Me too, Summer,” Aurora agreed, laughing gently with her.  “I’m just glad my idea makes you so glad.”

With that agreed, the sisters prepared to part ways for the afternoon.  Aurora returned to bed, and found that restful sleep came much more easily than before.  The thought of seeing her parents again worked wonders on her troubled mind.  Before long she had drifted off entirely, feeling for the first time all week that she was truly getting the rest she needed.

Corona’s mind, on the other hand, was still a little bit troubled.  After saying goodbye to her sister, she gently lifted Ghost onto her back by magic and carried her across the hall to her own bedroom.  The little changeling lay down as if to sleep again the moment she set her on her bed.  Corona smiled humorously down at her, suppressing a yawn of her own; the lazy afternoon air seemed to be having an effect on everyone.  Her smiled faded a moment later when she remembered what was to be done with her new friend, but she tried not to let the thought affect her too much.  Leaned down, she gave her friend a gentle, affectionate nuzzle on the cheek.

Two big emerald eyes flickered open, staring trustingly up at the princesses.  “Can… stay?” Ghost asked with a big yawn.  “I stay with you?”

Corona shook her head.  “It’s… it’s gonna be okay, Ghost,” she said, her voice deeply bittersweet.  “I wish I could keep you, but… it’s better this way.  I promise.”

The look in Ghost’s eyes, the way the trust and hope suddenly drained out of them in an instant, broke Corona’s heart.  The full reality of her situation was finally sinking into the little changeling’s sleep-addled mind.  Trembling, Ghost lowered her head and covered it with her forelegs, as if cowering from some imagined threat.  “Please… no.  Not back to the woods.  Not back to the Witch.”

“Witch?” Corona echoed in confusion.  “You never said anything about a witch before.  What’s up?”

“Please… must stay here….” Ghost continued her frightened pleading.  Her breaths came quick and shallow, and her voice rose in pitch with every word, coming dangerously close to a terrified shriek.  “The Witch… with the dark hair… and the yellow bird... she’ll take me… not again… not again!”

“Shh!  Shh,” Corona shushed her gently, reaching out to stroke the poor creature’s shivering back.  “It’s okay.  Calm down, nopony’s gonna hurt you.  It’s okay, it’s okay.”

For a few minutes she just continued to feed Ghost affection, and by and by the changeling’s panic subsided.  Her breathing slowed, her trembling ceased, and at last she drifted back off into a troubled sleep.  But the episode had clearly left her shaken, and even in slumber she continued to fidget uncomfortably, as if seized by a bad dream.

Corona strode to her window, deep in thought.  It crossed her mind that Aurora might be right, that perhaps Ghost had simply gone mad back in those swamps, and she was afraid of nothing more than delusions and fragmented dreams.  But as much as she trusted her sister, Corona didn’t feel quite sure.  She shook her head, reflecting that there had been times in the past when Aurora could be terribly stubborn.  She always acted with the best of intentions, but once she had an idea in her head of what was right, there was no convincing her otherwise.

Corona’s features hardened.  If either of them were going to have any peace of mind about this whole affair, Corona would have to take matters into her own hooves.

“I’ll be back soon, Ghost,” she murmured softly to the sleeping changeling.  Ghost’s fidgeting had subsided; her nightmare appeared to be over.  Corona smiled.  “Try to have pleasant dreams, okay?”

With that, she left her room, taking care to lock the door behind her, lest one of the maids accidentally discover her sleeping friend.  The walk down from the tower was long and silent, but Corona kept her gazed fixed sternly ahead; she had business to attend to.  Passing out of the palace gates, she made her way towards the Arcane University.

The university stood just over a mile from the royal palace, on the far west side of Canterlot.  It was a huge campus, and a gorgeous one at that: wide, chalk-white walkways wound through well-trimmed emerald lawns dotted here and there with shady old oaks.  Scholars and officials frequently commuted back and forth between the palace and the university, so a single long pathway had been paved from the palace grounds to school’s front gates; by taking this path Corona managed to arrive quickly and without attracting any attention.  The old gatekeeper was taken aback by the princess’s sudden unscheduled visit, but he was happy to open the wrought-iron gates and allow her inside.

Unlike her sister, Corona hadn’t visited the Arcane University many times before, but she was able to find her way to the main offices without much difficulty.  When she asked to speak with Professor Somnambula, the surprised staff at the registration desk pointed her across the quad to a tall, domed building of white stone – the Starswirl Center for Experimental Magic.  “Her, uh… her office is there, y-your highness,” one of the registrars explained, stuttering and sweating profusely.  He was clearly nervous to address a princess, so Corona gave him a disarming smile and thanked him kindly.  It seemed to help.  “Y-you’re welcome, Princess,” he said, smiling back cautiously as he bid her farewell.

It was still mid-afternoon as she made her way across the quad, and there was no avoiding a few small clusters of students strolling leisurely from one class to the next.  They all bowed at her approach and offered polite but nervous salutations.  Corona, blushing, greeted them all casually and continued on her way.  Now she understood why the council had chosen to schedule their visit to Ponyville for nighttime; all the attention and reverence that ponies paid her was a little embarrassing.

After climbing the long stone stairway and entering the building, the front desk directed her to a spacious office on the second floor.  Somnambula was there, standing beside a large oak desk and, perhaps a bit frantically, stuffing papers into a briefcase-saddlebag.  She looked up startled to see Corona standing in her doorway.  “Oh!  Pardon me, your highness,” she bowed her head.  “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.  Can I help you?”

Corona stepped inside, nodding and shutting the door behind her.  “I, um… I was just wondering something.  Are you busy?”

“Well… yes, actually,” she said.  She dashed across the room to a large safe and began to fiddling with the combination by magic.  “In fact, I was getting ready to come back to the palace and pick up Ghost.  I just got word that the Everfree region is going be hit with a storm tonight, so I’ll have to hurry down there before the weather gets too bad, before the wind and the rain disrupts your little friend’s old habitat.”  The lock clicked, and the door of the safe swung open.  “And while I’m at it, I suppose I ought to deliver this to the hospital.”  From out of the safe she lifted a long glass vial, capped with a cork and filled nearly to the top with a warmly-glowing pinkish liquid.

Corona stared wide-eyed at the vial.  “Is that…?”

Somanmbula smiled.  “The cure, yes.”  She trotted back to her bags and slipped the vial inside a small, safe compartment on the side.  “I didn’t want to show up in Ponyville without it.  I’m sorry I had to change plans so quickly, your highness, but weather in the Everfree is unpredictable, and if we ever want to find out where little Ghost came from then we’ll have to examine the area before – ”

“Hey, Professor?” Corona interrupted.  “Would… would it be okay if I went with you?”

The unicorn was in the middle of lifting the bags onto her back when Corona spoke.  She froze.  “Do you mean… come with me?  To the Everfree Forest?”  She wasn’t quite stammering, but there was obvious tension in her voice.

“Uh, yeah,” Corona said.  “I, um….” She searched her brain for a tactful way to say what she wanted to say; she didn’t want to sound too suspicious.  “I’m just really worried for Ghost, you know?  And she knows me, and trusts me, and I guess maybe if I were there with her, she’d feel safer.  I guess.”

For a moment, just a moment, Somnambula hesitated.  Behind her pink eyes her mind looked as if it were racing furiously.  And in that instant Corona felt something – a lightning-flash of certainty, the unmistakable assurance that her suspicions were true, that Somnambula did indeed have something sinister in mind.  But it passed a moment later when the professor spoke.

“Of course!” she exclaimed brightly as if the past few seconds hadn’t occurred.  “I don’t see why not.  And of course, I couldn’t say no to a princess.”  She glanced at the clock on the far wall.  “If we leave now, we ought to be able to pick up your little changeling friend and catch the five o’clock train to Ponyville.”  As she finished hefting the saddlebags onto her back, a thoughtful look crossed her face.  “I assume that Princess Aurora will be joining us as well?”

It only took Corona a second to decide.  “Nah.  I think I can handle this myself.”

“Ah!  All right, then.”  Somnambula trotted lightly and briskly towards the door, pulled it open by magic, and stepped back with a small bow of her head.  “After you, Princess.”

Smiling, Corona thanked the professor and stepped out the door.  For a moment, the faint image of Ghost, frightened and shivering atop her bed, flashed through her mind, but she shook her head and grinned gallantly again.  There was a boldness stirring to life within her, a confidence and strength of intent.  She knew exactly what she was going to do.  She would find out what was really going on.  She would see to Ghost’s safety, she would help save Ponyville’s ailing citizens, and she would dispel the cloud of worry that plagued her sister.

And she would do it all by herself.