Between the Sun and the Moon

by Psychic Smith

Chapter 9

CHAPTER IX

The sound of Nick’s feet hitting the marble floors of Everfree Castle echoed off of the walls and vaulted ceilings. As he stormed to the door separating the public areas from the private wing, he saw a familiar guard standing by the door. The guard following Nick kept his eyes focused on the alien, prepared to strike if the need for violence arose.

Nick stood tall above the armored stallion flanking the locked doors. “I need to see Celestia.” He was blunt and forceful in his approach, not hiding the anger in his voice, but he spoke soft enough to show he was in control of himself.

“The princess is in the middle of day court at the present time. If you would like to listen in again, you’re allo-”

“You aren’t understanding me,” Nick growled. The guard escorting Nick tensed, readying himself. “I need to speak with her, and I don’t care if she has to kick out every one of those damn petitioners out of her courtroom. Hell, I’ll do it myself.”

“Are you declaring you intend to take hostile actions against the royal sisters?”

Nick knew the guards knew what he needed to get through to Celestia. All of the castle staff must know by now. Perhaps this was the wrong approach. Nick knew he didn’t have much over the ponies here, aside from height of course. They could cut Nick down in an instant. Nick let out a sigh.

“Look, you know why I’m here. Just let me-”

“I can’t allow that, Nicholas.”

The rage bubbling beneath the surface of Nick’s calm demeanor threatened to break the surface. “Wouldn’t you do the same!?” Nick yelled. “I saw my friend being carried away, unconscious last night. You expect me to just allow anyone of you ponies to shove me in my room, forbid me from leaving until morning, and not tell me if he is alright?” Nick would have ranted longer if it wasn’t for the quick rush of wind, and the armored pegasus now hovering in front of him.

Captain Hurricane kept herself airborne to keep herself eye level with Nick, a serious glare in her eyes.

“And what do you think you’re doing.”

“Me?” Nick asked, a bit of his anger continuing to leak through the filter he struggled to keep on his words. “You know damn well what I’m doing. You’re a guard captain, surely you got to see your princesses take Will away. What did they do to him!?” He was fuming at this point, his face reddening with the heat of a building rage.

“As far as I know, nothing intentional,” Hurricane explained. “He is being tended to at the moment. He’s in safe hooves.”

“Oh really?” Nick asked incredulously. “If he was in such good hooves as you say, how did Will end up hurt again? Not to mention your princess is keeping me from seeing him? How can I not be the tiniest bit suspicious.”

A sudden shift of expressing in Hurricane’s face told Nick that the captain didn’t know that last bit either. The mare hovered there for a moment, then scowled.

“Hold here for a moment.” With that, Hurricane opened the locked door and bolted through, closing it behind her. Suddenly, Nick was struck with a bit of deja vu. This was almost exactly like when he asked to listen in on day court in the first place.

However, Hurricane was a lot faster than the guard from that last time, as she busted back through the door in under a minute.

“You have five minutes, that’s all I could do for you.” The captain gave Nick a hard stare. It wasn’t hostile. If anything it was one of recognition. “You have loyalty to your friend. I respect that. Do me a favor though. Do not threaten my guards or the royalty again. Next time, I won’t be so lenient.

Nick gave the Hurricane a curt nod of affirmation. Nick half expected Hurricane to bolt off again. She seemed to do that a lot. She didn’t, opting instead to escort Nick to the courtroom herself. Even though the mare was shorter than him by a fair margin, she seemed so much larger in comparison to most of the ponies he’d seen. Her voice and stature commanded attention and gave her quite the imposing presence. It was, Nick realized, why Hurricane was so much more intimidating than the guards she commanded, and why she now held Nick’s respect. Nick fell into step with the captain’s wingbeats, practically marching to the throne room.

Coming around the partition that blocked the rear entrance of the courtroom from the rest of the throne room, Nick saw that all of the petitioners had already been moved out of the room. Celestia stood a few feet away, eyeing Nick and Hurricane seriously. She addressed Hurricane first.

“How much did you tell him?”

“Enough,” Hurricane said simply.

That caused Celestia to frown as she eyed Hurricane with a piercing gaze. “And pray tell why you ignored my direct orders?”

“Because that order was ignorant, and, forgive me for speaking bluntly, idiotic.”

Rage seemed to boil beneath Celestia’s mask. To Hurricane’s credit, the pegasus stood at attention unflinching at her ruler and superior.

“Explain.”

“You had ordered that Nicholas would be contained in his room for the night after having just seen his friend being rushed away by the alien guards of a country that may or may not become hostile to him or his friend. His friend that he carried through the dangers of the Everfree.”

Celestia seemed to be taken aback by that. “I thought our hospitali-” Celestia began, but Hurricane continued, interrupting the princess. As grateful as Nick was, he was appalled at the apparent disrespect being shown to the ruler.

“As the former commander of an army of pegasi, I understand trying to keep possible hostile prisoners separated, but I believe that is not the case with these two. I also understand that you are uncertain of the possible negative repercussions that would arise if Nicholas saw William at this moment.”

Celestia seemed to soften slightly behind her mask, and Nick’s face hardened. Hurricane paid them no mind as she kept talking.

“Normally, if a creature threatened my subjects with violence, or was causing more trouble than it was worth, I would have eradicated the creature before either occurred. Of course, that is unless said creature was important to the safety of the kingdom, but that isn’t the case either.”

‘Gee. Thanks, Hurricane,’ Nick grumbled to himself. Hurricane wasn’t done though.

“So since you have not taken care of the situation through the removal of the problem, and the issue is not a matter of importance to the country, I would say that it would be in your best interest to provide comfort in this troubling time, and not use lies, deceit, and the withholding of information.”

Hurricane, having finally finished, stood silently in attention as Celestia regarded her guard captain with scrutinizing eyes. They were silent for a few moments as Celestia thought.

“William is currently in stable condition,” Celestia began. Seriousness caused each word from the princess to be emphasized in a way that held a feeling of finality. Like every word was truth in its most basic form. “There was a magical mishap that caused him to have seizures and collapse. Currently, both Clover and Mending stitch are tending to him. William has been moved to a secret location that is specialized for magical treatments like this.” That last part was a lie, or possibly a half-lie. Nick could tell but he let it slide. “My sister and I are not sure if William’s condition could be contagious to you, so we are keeping you separate for the meantime until it is safe to let you see him.”

Magical mishap? “What caused it?” Nick asked.

“William witnessed a very powerful spell being performed by my sister Luna.” Noticing shock and anger appearing on Nick’s features, Celestia clarified. “He was not the target of the said spell, do not worry. Since his body is essentially a void of magic, my sister’s magic poured into him, filling that void. That build-up of magic energy, with no way to expel it, is what caused the seizures.”

Nick nodded. “So his body wasn’t able to handle all of that magic, I’m guessing?”

“As far as Clover was able to explain, yes,” Celestia said. “We are doing everything we can at the moment, but I need you to trust me. Exposing you to too much magic all at once could result in you experiencing what William is going through at this very moment. That, and I can’t guarantee what state this will leave your friend in.”

“Best case scenario?” Nick asked.

“William wakes up completely healthy.”

“And the worst?”

With a slight shiver, Celestia forced a single word from her throat. “Death.”

-~xXXXx~-

Magical and Physical Examination,

• Conductor of Evaluation: High Mage, Clover the Clever

  • Assisted by: Healer, Mending Stitch
• Name: William Thorne
• Species: Human
• Gender: Male
• Heart Rate: 75bpm

• Level of Consciousness: Unconscious/Comatose

  • Notes: Seems to be asleep. Some stirring in rest, muddled speech as if dreaming. Attempts to wake via normal measures unsuccessful.
• Height: 5’11.5”

• Weight: 165lbs

  • Note: Lost considerable amounts of weight from being unconscious from previous incident. Make a note to ask regular bodyweight of Human Species.

• Notes of incident:

  • Specimen exposed to large amounts of magic expelled from Princess Luna. Specimen collapsed and began having violent seizures. Minor bruising along arms and legs from flailing limbs. Leg, previously broken around what the human’s call the ankle, seems to not have worsened.

• Magical Examination:

  • Specimen previously showed no magic whatsoever when viewed through the Arcane Eye. Previous conversation confirms that humans come from a planet with no magic. After exposure to large volumes of arcane energies, a lot of that energy was absorbed into the subject. When looked at using the Arcane Eye, subject glows a bright blue very similar to Princess Luna (Further analysis required.) With no way to expel excess magic from specimen’s system, may result in a form of internal magical disintegration. With no previous incidents to compare to, will keep notes of specimen’s condition.

• Treatment Notes

  • Upon suggestion from Princess Celestia, subject has been moved to the Tree of Harmony. Celestia believes that the tree may hold some healing capacity. The magical study of the tree has been inconclusive. When asked, Celestia too seemed unsure of its capabilities, saying “Sometimes it is almost as if the tree itself speaks to me.” Having wielded the Elements of Harmony before, there may be a connection between the two (requires further research.) With no arcane pathways through the specimen, there is no way to safely extract the arcane energy, will use forceful measures as a last resort. Mending and I will watch over the specimen in rotating shifts, monitoring the specimen’s condition. Recommend that Nicholas be kept a safe distance away from all major sources of magic until William’s condition is fully remedied. That includes keeping Nicholas away from William himself.

As Clover put down her quill, she turned to the human lying upon the roots of the massive crystalline tree. Nopony had been able to fully understand the capabilities of the strange plant, yet the princesses must have some connection to it. Clover was a child when the Princesses first arrived, so she wasn’t able to witness the first use of the Elements of harmony, the multicolored gemstones set into the branches of the crystal tree high above Clover’s head.

As Clover thought about it, not much was known about either Celestia or Luna prior to the fabled tale of the princesses driving the lord of chaos from the land, only leaving a statue of the creature’s likeness as a memory of the horrific events. Nopony has seen that statue for many years as well.

Too many things were lining up for Clover to think that it couldn’t have been all a coincidence. She would have given anything to know the entire truth about the Tree of Harmony, but that would have to wait for another day. With a heavy sigh, she sat a few feet away from William.

Celestia’s suggestion had left Clover confused. The Tree of Harmony was a massive source of untapped magic in and of itself. Wouldn’t the act of bringing William here be contradictory to their goal of removing the magic from him? But if the tree itself spoke to Celestia like the princess claims, how could Clover resist seeing what would happen.

“What are you doing?” Clover asked the tree.

Clover felt stupid. Here she was, trying to talk to a tree. A tree of magic, sure. But still, even magic trees didn’t talk.

Clover’s ears perked up as a gust of warm wind caressed her coat, and she could have sworn that she heard a voice in the wind speak a single word…

“Patience.”

Comments

[Blackdust]

WELL THEN! This a right shitstorm, now ain't it! (Referencing what was happening, not the story in general.)

[Blackdust]

10050837
That's not confusing to think about at all! Lemme make it even worse for ya.

On my mother's, brother's, cousin's, father's, sister's side.

[Crystonian]

The tree is going to harmonize the magic in his system. Saving him.