Chapters OK guys before we start this I'm going to warn you that this story is going to start off a little confusing. Just trust me and let me take a few chapters to set it up before you jump ship, it will all come full circle.
<3sy.. .
The birds singing annoyed her to no end. Even after all these years, it still got under her skin. Sighing she focused solely on the tree outside, blocking out all other sound around herself and listening only to the tree. It had taken her weeks to fully understand what she was about to do, and months before she could call herself a master at it. After quickly forming a connection with the tree, she searched through its limbs with her mind to find that infuriating bird. It was sitting on the topmost branch of the tree, chirping its little heart out. Slowly, oh so slowly, she willed the branch to bend backwards. At the point where the branch could take no more bending, she released the tension with a thought, rocketing the annoying bird off into the sky.
With a smile she turned her attention back to her teacher who had ceased his talking and was tapping a hoof on the floor.
"Are my lessons that boring, Bloom?" he asked in an exasperated tone. This was not the first time she had ignored a lesson in favor of something she deemed more important at the time.
"No, Elsrend, I'm sorry about that, but you know how distracting those birds are. I can hardly hear myself think over the racket they so enjoy making."
"You know Bloom, most ponies find their songs to be enjoyable, even calming. Why is it that you hate them so?" Elsrend asked. He had had this conversation with Bloom before, multiple times in fact, and wasn't expecting a real answer. He hadn't gotten one in the nine years he had known the yellow earth pony, and knew he probably never would. Still he asked all the same, more out of habit than the answer he already knew was coming.
Bloom just sighed, and shook her head, not bothering with the rehearsed answer always given to those types of questions. "So you were saying before i got distracted..."
Elsrend gave a small snort but went back to the lesson he had been teaching. "As i was saying, shaman who practice the Forest Walkers Path can utilize their skill with plants and nature to draw sustenance from the world around them. Those few who truly master it do not have to eat or drink at all so long as there is sufficient plant life around." He paused; as if to let what he had just said truly sink in.
"Wait," Bloom said, "Wouldn't that kill the plants to just have everything sucked out of them?" She was having a hard time finding the use in just killing the only weapon of a nature shaman.
Elsrend on the other hoof just chuckled at her question. "You didn't let me finish little Life-Bloom," the nickname was his favorite way to tease the young earth pony. As if on cue, Blooms face turned red with embarrassment as she muttered a soft 'shut up' before looking away. This only earned her more laughter from Elsrend as he continued, "as i was saying, a practitioner of our branch of shamanism can, with practice, live off nothing but the excess magic of plants. So long as you do not overdraw the plants supply of magic, this skill will leave no lasting negative effects on the plants you draw from."
The rest of the lesson was spent discussing the numbers and techniques to achieve the best results, without killing the plants. Bloom found the prospect of needing little to no food or water fascinating, and was already beginning to think of ways the spell could be helpful. According to Elsrend, by simply changing a few focus points in the spell, and shifting the targeted area from the body as a whole to the brain alone. A particularly gifted practitioner could not only delay the body's natural need for rest, but also enhance brain function. In essence putting your brain into overdrive and delaying the negative effects until a more convenient time. The drawback being that when you do feel the effects of your overused brain and, lack of sufficient rest, it hits you all at once and is only compounded on itself for the time delayed. It's a bit of a double edged sword in that respect, still a useful trick to have in ones arsenal.
"So Bloom," Elsrend said as he got to his hooves, preparing to leave for the day, "I have some training I want you to do in preparation for your exams."
This made her ears snap to face him, her exams for graduating from the Axum University of Shamanism were just around the corner, and had been weighing heavily on her mind for some time now. No one knew what this year's exam would be, but everyone knew one thing: it was never easy. The exams always forced the students to their limits, regardless of what path you chose to specialize in. The fact that she was a nature specialist and fallowed the Forest Walkers Path had Bloom even more worried. Forest Walkers weren't known for their destructive ability until they reached an extremely high level of skill, this meant that the exam would have to be more technically inclined to make up for the lack of raw force required. She herself had near prodigious skill when it came to learning new spells, incantations, and the like. But she lacked the patience for true mastery, so far the only thing she mastered was manipulation of nature. And even that was only born from her hate of bird songs, not from a desire or drive to truly master the art.
"Life-Bloom!"
"What," Bloom said, startled from the thoughts she had been getting lost in.
"I swear you have been spacing off more these days, are you sure you're alright?" Elsrend asked, concern in his voice, "you know you can always take a break if you're not feeling up to it."
"No I'm fine, really, just what was it you were saying about the exams? And stop calling me 'Life-Bloom' damn it!"
Sighing Elsrend gave up trying to make her take a break, it was an exercise in futility if there ever was one. "Study the skills we went over today, namely how to turn raw nature magic into something you can live off of. You can thank me later little Life-Bloom," he said with a hint of a smile in his voice. And with that he trotted out of the room.
"I'm never going to live that one down am I," she asked herself. The nickname had been a gift from Elsrend after her first test in nature magic, a gift that sadly refused to go away. She and the seven other students that were studying the Forest Walkers Path at the time had all been taken out to the gardens. Their task had been to form a connection with a flower, the most basic from of nature magic. The zebras made it seem easy, but when Bloom tried to connect to the flower, it had ignored her. Again and again Bloom attempted to connect to the flower, and every time she was met with cold indifference. As time dragged on and the other colts and filly's completed the exercise Bloom became more and more frustrated. Finally her emotions got the best of her and she forced her will upon the poor flower, it caved under the weight of her pent up frustration. And over the course of a few seconds it fully bloomed, wilted, and died. Elsrend had jokingly called her 'Life-Bloom' because her flower had been the only casualty that day, sadly the name had stuck and for the last nine years that's what most of her fellow shamans referred to her as. All things considered it could have been worse, the name wasn't that terrible in and of itself, although she could do without the running joke that she killed anything and everything plant related.
With one last heavy sigh, Bloom got to her hooves, muttering lsrm as she did. A single charm on each of her bracelets glowed a gentle white, like ghosts waking from their sleep. Bloom tapped each of her hooves in turn, testing the spell she had just cast. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, she calmly walked out of the room they had used for class that day. Heading for her room across the campus in the dorms, she never broke her pace. At most she would offer a small nod to the students who greeted her on the walk back to her room, not being one to enjoy idle conversations.
Once Bloom reached the dorms, she began the trek up stairs to the fifth story. Living at the University so long had its benefits after all, as well as being the only shaman currently studying to be a Forest Walker. It wasn't a very desirable field of study to most zebras, unsurprising considering there wasn't much to speak of when it came to trees on the grasslands, let alone any forests. Of all the branches of shamanism, the Forest Walkers Path was the most useless in the zebras homeland. Still Bloom had no plans to live here past graduation, and her Equestrian home had no lack of forests. So it was, as it had always been, simply a waiting game until she could return home a true shaman.
Lost in thought about shamanism and home, Bloom walked headlong into her room's door without opening it. The shocking pain in her nose brought her back to reality rather quickly. Grumbling to herself about how she really should rewrite the rune locks on her door to open on their own, she brought her right hoof to her face and spoke sfsr into it. A rune matching the one carved into the door glowed as the door swung open.
With deft steps Bloom walked around the mess of books and plants strune throughout the room, with ease only the creator of such a mess could achieve. It had taken Bloom nearly three years to convince the school board to allow her to take out the ceiling and replace it with glass, turning her dorm room into a greenhouse. And another four years of constant pestering of merchants and travelers to acquire the many plants that now grew throughout the room, none of which were native to the zebra grasslands. She always thought it was a shame they would have to be left behind when she left the University; still Elsrend had promised to take care of them when she was gone. After all they were invaluable when it came to teaching nature magic, there was so little of note in the grasslands as far as forest plants were concerned.
"Still walking into doors i see," came a voice from the corner of the room, the only corner that wasn't cluttered with plants. Blooms ears flicked in annoyance at the sound of her roommates taunting, a habit Ellennara never tired of. With a thought she connected to all the plants in the room, forcing their leaves to rustle in a nonexistent breeze. That only earned some giggles from the zebra, "yes yes master Bloom, truly all nature bends to your will."
Try as she might, Bloom couldn't keep the scowl on her face, and soon her lips tugged upward into a smile. "I'm glad we understand each other," Bloom said in her best condescending voice, "I wouldn't want to have to show the true might of the Forest Walkers." With that she turned, her nose as high in the air as possible, and swaggered over to her bed. The day had been a long one for her, coupled with the fact that she hadn't slept much the night before, and she was ready for sleep. Hopping into bed, she murmured lsrm one last time to disable the runes on her bracelets before drifting off to sleep.
Apple Bloom found herself walking through the rows of apple trees that made up Sweet Apple Acres. The sun spilled through the branches of the trees to either side of her, playing tag with the shadows on the path. And the birds filled the air with their gentle song, delivered on the wind that lazily danced through the filly's mane and tail. A pleasant smell of apples permeated the whole scene, providing a perfect backdrop to the ideal summer day. As she approached the house, the sound of laughter reached her ears. A care free sound of joy and ease, it made Apple Bloom quicken her step, wanting nothing more than to join in on that happiness.
But something was wrong. The birds had stopped singing. The wind had died. And the sun was gone. The smell of apples shifted into the smell of smoke. Apple Bloom looked behind her to see Sweet Apple Acres burning. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, this couldn't be happening. It was the laughter morphing into screams that shocked her out of her stunned state. Slowly she turned to see her home aflame as well. She could make out Applejack's screams, as well as what could only be Big Macs. She couldn't ever remember him screaming before, ever. And then as quickly as they started, the screams died. The only sound in the orchard being the cackle of the fire.
Just as she was about to take a step there was a sickening thud behind her. A slightly wet sound like fresh meat hitting the ground. Her blood ran cold. It took everything she had to look behind her. And she instantly wished she hadn't.
There standing behind her, back lit by the burning apple trees, was what the filly could only describe as a monster. She couldn't see its face in the shadows, but she knew it was smiling. Still that wasn't the worst part. Down by its feet, in a pool of growing red, was a near unrecognizable corpse. But that mane, that blond mane was unmistakable.
Apple Blooms head swam as her legs buckled beneath her. The monster just laughed as it reached for her. Its clawed hand cutting into her throat. And as its jagged teeth came closer and closer to her eyes a voice seemed to whisper from memory.
"These eyes are a shamans, they've seen too much. And of all that I've seen, theirs few left I can touch.
Perhaps someday your eyes, will mirror my own. But to have eyes like these, you'll lose all that you've known."
Breaking Things And Studying
Bloom woke in a cold sweat to a pair of hooves shaking her awake, and Ellennara’s voice telling her it’s just a dream. She tried to speak, to say she was alright now, but found her throat raw making words painful. She presumed the screaming she heard waking up must have been hers; it would explain why her throat hurt and why her friend woke her up.
“I’m sorry for waking you,” Bloom whispered.
“It’s fine,” Ellennara said around a yawn. “Was it the same nightmare as always?” Living with Bloom all these years meant she didn't mind getting woken up from screaming in the dead of night. But the pony had never said what the nightmare was exactly, only that it was how she lost her eyes. And if the scars where they use to be were any indication, it was no wonder she still had nightmares about it.
“Yeah,"Bloom said, her voice trembling just a bit, "same as always.”
“Want some water?” Ellennara asked, “Your voice sounds even worse than it normally does.”
Bloom grimaced and nodded, most ponies didn't comment on her voice, and after years of listening to it, it didn't even sound strange anymore. And by most she meant everyone but Ellennara had the good graces to not bring up how broken and raspy it was now. Still with most everypony ignoring her strange voice, it was easy to forget anything was wrong.
The sound of Ellennara’s hooves on the hardwood as she went to fetch the water had a calming effect on Bloom. The normalcy of the sound helped take the edge off her nerves, and slowly her hooves stopped shaking and her heart rate slowed. By the time the zebra returned with the water, Bloom had calmed herself down from the nightmare enough that she wouldn't be in danger of spilling it.
Slowly she reached out a hoof to take the glass, but to her annoyance nothing came. Her forehead knitted together in fake frustration as she spoke through gritted teeth. “Karma will get you for taunting the blind, you know that right?”
“But I've been doing that for years now and I haven’t seen her yet,” Ellennara replied. Even without eyes Bloom could hear the smile in her voice. “It seems karma likes to take her sweet time with these things.”
Bloom was trying her best to keep the mask of anger on her face, and was failing miserably. Her zebra friend had been like this ever sense they first became roommates, and at first it had bothered her. Ellennara had been extremely insensitive when it came to her ruined eyes and voice, choosing to outright ignore them most of the time. But was not above a blind joke so long as she thought it was funny. It would frustrate Bloom to no end trying to understand where this zebra found the nerve to treat her as if she was normal. To treat this scared and traumatized filly like she would anyone else. But as she grew older and more accepting of her own broken self, she grew to love that part of her friend. She didn't see a broken pony, someone in need of pity. She only saw a friend, no missing pieces, no cracks, just a friend.
“You OK there Bloom?” Ellennara asked, her voice betrayed a hint of concern, “you spaced off there for a bit, just sitting there with a slightly creepy smile on your face.”
At this Blooms lips spread into a devilish grin. “I was just contemplating what my revenge will be if you don’t give me that water.”
That only got a round of giggles from the zebra as she placed the glass of water in Blooms outstretched hooves. Taking care to be sure of her grip before letting go of the glass, she noticed the large crack running down the rune on Blooms left bracelet. “You broke your bracelet again,” she said frowning.
“Not again…” Bloom groaned in defeat. She broke her bracelets more often than she would like to admit. The damn things were so fragile, and being positioned on her ankles gave them a rather unfortunate life span. As her roommate, poor Ellennara had gotten quite good at fixing the runes over the last nine years. Seeing as she had to fix them at least once a month or so, more than that when at first Bloom was getting use to wearing bracelets. Still having to do repairs was infinitely better than not having them. After all the bracelets were the closest thing Bloom had to sight.
They were constructs of shamanistic air magic, and worked by taking the excess raw magic in the air, condensing it into waves, and then attuning those waves to the pony wearing the bracelets. This assured that when the magic was fired off it wouldn't be picked up by other pony’s, and instead bounce off them back to Bloom. It was in essence, echo location with magic instead of sound. And once a body became acclimated enough with the spell, they could feel not only the shape of something, but also a texture.
The waves felt different coming back depending on what they bounced off of. It took Bloom a long time before she could ‘see’ anything more than the basic outline of rooms. And it wasn't like the magic was perfect; holes for example wouldn't show up in her magic sight. The waves would go down and get stuck down there. Not being a unicorn also meant that she wasn't magically sensitive enough to ‘see’ color or fine details. Her world was a bland, minimalistic black and white. But even that was far and away better than being without the bracelets, left with the nothingness.
“Are you almost done?” Bloom asked, tilting her ears towards the corner of the room Ellennara had taken her bracelets to.
“What do you care,” came the reply, “you’re going to bed anyway. Don’t worry I’ll leave them where you can find them when I finish.” Turning back to her work the zebra heard a sigh from the bed across the room, but no argument came. Smiling she set about fixing the broken part of the bracelet before reapplying the missing runes in the spell. After years of practice it didn't take long to repair the damage and double check for any mistakes, before placing all four bracelets in a small tree beside Blooms bed.
The earth pony wouldn't have a problem finding them in the morning due to her natural connection with nature. A connection that still somewhat confused Ellennara to this day. Bloom had on multiple occasions tried to explain just how it was that the plants "talked" to her, but it had never made much sense.
While it wasn’t at all uncommon for a shaman to talk to spirits of nature or the elements, they rarely if ever spoke back. Sure they could speak if so inclined, but the only time they ever did was in defiance of an order from a shaman. Never more than a few words and certainly not a conversation like Bloom seemed to have.
Truth be told, Ellennara had always been a bit jealous of her friends natural skill with nature magic. Shaman had to not only master the spells they wished to cast, but also establish control over enough spirits to have them cast it. The harder the spell, the stronger the spirits needed that had to temporarily be bent to the shamans will. Runes and incantation were normally used as a sort of safe guard in case the spell was cast wrong, or the shaman lost control over the spirits. They helped not only protect the shaman, but also minimize the collateral damage of a rogue spell.
Though at their base runes are nothing more than preconstructed spells using an incantation as there trigger. Ideal for a quick defensive or constraining spell to fix or stop a spell gone wrong, that’s not how Bloom adopted them. Her spells never seemed to backfire or run rampant and out of control, so rather than defense the runes housed all her spells.
Ellennara wasn’t completely sure just how her pony friend came to be here, or just how her own personal brand of shamanism worked. But somehow the blind pony had made it all the way to their school in the center of the zebra lands. Convinced the head master she could be taught, and that she was worth teaching. And now stood only a few weeks away from her exit exams and receiving the title of Forest Walker. Looking down at the sleeping pony with her fire red hair, Ellennara couldn’t help but be in a bit of awe at what she had accomplished. With a smile she gently pulled the blankets from the foot of Blooms bed, and draped them over the sleeping pony before heading off to bed herself.
Morning came bringing birds and there incessant chirping with it. Groaning Bloom reached out with her mind, asking the plants around the room just where Ellennara had left her bracelets. This turned out to be completely unhelpful as they all began talking at once. The flowers were the loudest, but within two half formed sentences they were off rambling nonsense about sunshine and butterfly’s. Bloom facehooved for being stupid enough to ask the whole room full of plants at once, before demanding quiet. Once the room calmed down and she could hear herself think, Bloom asked again where her bracelets were placed. This time she made sure to only ask the two small trees in here room, as they were the only plants old enough to answer properly.
As it turned out Ellennara had placed the bracelets in the branches of the oak tree, a smaller version of the one she planted outside. With a thought she bent the branch of the tree, depositing the bracelets within reaching distance on the bed. Placing them on her ankles Bloom spoke lsrm , returning her to the world of sight, or close enough to it. With a small sigh the earth pony trotted off to the showers to begin her morning routine. Freshly washed and after grabbing a quick breakfast in the cafeteria, she headed off to the library to begin preparing for her exit exams.
The size of the library had always impressed Bloom, the building was a massive four story beast made of solid stone. The size wasn’t just for show either; the building held more books than anypony cared to count. As the only school devoted solely to shamanism, Axum’s library had long sense become a hub for any and all forms of shamanistic knowledge.
As Bloom approached the building the two large wooden doors came into ‘sight’ giving off the same warm feeling they always did. As far as she could tell they only felt warm and soft to her magic sight because of the shear amount of runes carved into them. Ignoring how odd the doors felt for the time being, Bloom made her way inside and began searching for the closest zebra. Spotting two zebras at a desk off to her right she quickly trotted over and asked if they would mind finding the librarian for her.
A side effect of being not only the sole earth pony on campus, but also very obviously blind, was that everypony knew you. And no pony is going to turn away the little blind filly; it became an unspoken rule that you must help the blind pony if at all possible.
”Can’t you see I…” his sentence was cut short when he looked up to see who had the nerve to interrupt his tutoring with such a stupid request. “I…umm… Miss Bloom, yes of course I can help you, just wait here a moment I’ll go get the librarian for you.” With that he got up and all but dragged the younger zebra with him.
As they left Bloom could hear the smaller zebra ask who that pony was and why they were helping her. If they hadn’t been in a library bloom wouldn't have been able to pick up his response, “She’s Life-Bloom, and we are going because you don’t ask a blind pony to look for anything.”
Must be a first year, she thought with a smile. Is it that time of year already, where has the time gone. Musing about the past Bloom found a bench to sit on until the first year and her tutor came back with the librarian. Fortunately she didn’t have to wait long, as the pair came back with an unmistakable zebra. The librarian they found just so happened to be one of blooms favorite zebras in the university, Eliszzanxy or Elis for short. Still Bloom thought her full name was more fun to say so she never bothered shortening it.
After thanking the zebras returning to their lessons, Bloom turned to the librarian with a grin on her face. “I need some books in braille; can you help me out Eliszzanxy?”
The mare’s voice was soft and low from years of working in the library. Still it held a motherly tone that put the soul at ease. “Strange to see you in here Bloom, what kind of books are you looking for?”
“It’s a bit of a long shot but do you have anything in braille on continuous energy absorption, or raw magic transmutation?”
Eliszzanxy was quiet for a few moments before answering, “We might have something on the subjects in braille. It’s such an underused part of the library; I doubt theirs a zebra alive that knows all of what’s in the braille section.”
“Is it really that untouched,” Bloom asked as she followed the librarian up to the fourth floor where the braille section was kept.
“It’s not like there are a lot of zebras that read braille, after all we had to ask around to find you a teacher. The only parts of the books that are written are the titles, and it’s been about one hundred and fifty years sense a librarian here bothered to learn braille and try to sort that place. Even then it’s not like he could go through and read every book,” Eliszzanxy said with a giggle as they reached the top floor.
“Wait, so how have you always gotten me books when I asked for them?” Bloom was more than a little surprised about the librarian’s lack of knowledge. She had always assumed that she could either read braille or that the books had words printed under the bumps.
The librarian stifled another giggle at the pony’s shocked tone. “I read the titles and guessed at the content,” she said with a smile in her voice.
“Well,” Bloom said still a little shocked, “remind me never to play a guessing game with you. Every book you’ve gotten me has always been spot on.”
The two stopped in what Bloom guessed was the braille section. It was hard to tell just where she was in the library, after all every bookshelf looked the same to her ‘sight’. And the floor to ceiling shelving made it impossible for her to see more than the thin strip of walkway she stood in. When she was younger, and still reluctant to ask for any kind of help, Bloom had gotten lost in the library more times than she’d like to admit.
It took the both of them searching -or Eliszzanxy searching and Bloom doing something that loosely resembled searching- most of the morning and they only found 3 books that looked promising. The first was Transmutation and Transmogrification, a large book that was bound to have way more information than Bloom cared for, still beggars can’t be choosers. The second was A Nature Walkers Guide to Magic Absorption, and while it was as large as the first it also promised more relevant information. The last one peaked Blooms interest not because of its content but the book itself. It was a journal of sorts written in braille for some odd reason. It seemed highly impractical to have one’s personal notes printed in braille and made into a journal, so of course Bloom had to check it out. After all it wasn’t large by any means, so she could fit reading it in without neglecting her studies.
With the hard earned books safely tucked away in the saddlebags, and having thanked Eliszzanxy for all her help Bloom left the library. Heading back to the dorm room to begin the dreaded studying, but first she was going to find out why anyone would go through so much work to make a braille journal.
I Want To Cast A Spell...
Ellennara arrived back to her dorm room late that night to an odd sight. Bloom, sitting at her desk (which was so rarely used for anything it was easy to forget it was there at all) completely engrossed in a book. This alone was enough to perk the zebra’s interest, considering in all the years she had known Bloom, Ellennara could count on here hooves the number of times she saw the pony enraptured by a book. This time however the ponies delight seemed to be something more. The grin on her face gave Ellennara pause as she approached; it was massive, bordering on mad.
“Umm… Bloom,” Ellennara asked, a little apprehensive about the response she would receive. After all the last time her friend had a smile like that on her face, it took a week before the west side of the dorms were safe to live in again.
Bloom jumped, startled out of her inner musings by the sudden sound in an otherwise quiet room. “Ellennara you have to come look at this, it is possibly the best thing ever.” Bloom called as she turned to face where her friend had spoken from. Her impossibly wide grin somehow growing even wider, crossing from the land of strange into something closer to creepy.
With a bit more caution than normal Ellennara slowly approached her overly excited friend. “So…” she asked, “what am I looking at exactly?”
“This,” Bloom exclaimed as she unceremoniously shoved the book she had been reading towards Ellennara.
“Umm… yes very nice, you do know I can’t read this right?”
“…”
“Forgot about that little detail didn’t we?”
“…shut up,” Bloom mumbled, in her rush to show Ellennara just how great the book was, she had in fact forgotten it was written in braille.
This prompted a good natured sigh from the zebra before she said, “Ok so why don’t you just explain what’s so great about this book?”
“Well first of all it’s not a book; it’s the journal and notes of a wartime shaman. And he seems to have invented a spell, well two spells that if done properly could allow me to see again!” This statement however wasn’t met with the level of excitement Bloom was expecting. That’s because it wasn’t met with any excitement at all, the room was dead silent. “What,” Bloom finally asked, more than a little annoyed by the lack of response. “What is your problem this is wonderful news.”
“Tell me Bloom, what type of magic do these spells use?” The zebra’s voice was low with just a hint of concern. It was the worry in her voice that brought Bloom out of her daydreams of sight, and back to reality.
“Well it was odd magic I’ve never heard of, but before I explain the spells and my plan for them, you have to promise not to freak out.”
“Umm… OK…”
“Promise me you won’t over react and that you’ll hear me out until the end.” This time her voice was stern and left no room for argument.
“Fine I promise, now explain.”
“Well the base concepts are simple enough to understand. The spell seems to have originally been designed to allow a shaman to temporarily displace the spirit of an elemental with the casters. Though the time any soul can be away from the body before the body feels the effects is rather short. In short bursts of about 15 minutes or so there was no damage to the shamans body. And while the soul was in the elemental, it could be controlled as if it was the shamans own body.”
“Hold on a second, are you suggesting taking your soul out and placing it in an elemental!” Ellennara seemed horrified at the prospect.
“Will you shut up and let me finish?” The silence was all the answer Bloom needed, “Thank you. Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, it seems the shamans wanted something more permanent for war. After all elementals are notoriously volatile and violent, but with their power it’s no wonder any race at war would want to use them. So they came up with a second method of controlling elementals, this time more permanent. They would completely remove a shaman’s soul, and bind it with a few simple runes into an elemental body.”
Ellennara was about to interject again but Bloom held up a hoof to stop her. “Once again thats not my plan, at least that’s not all of it. Whoever wrote this journal wanted to find a way to bring elementals under control, more like pets. And in that they succeeded, at least in part they did. See while putting all your soul into an elemental, forces out the spirit that owns the body. Putting only part of your soul into it simply binds the two of you to each other. The trick was getting the spirit to listen and assist the shaman, because the binding acts like a spell. Shamans kept losing control of the binding spell and it would go haywire. They had to use a host of runes to keep the spell under control, and most shamans couldn’t take the magical strain.” At this Bloom was grinning widely, as if she had already won and was politely waiting for everypony else to realize it.
“So how is this a good thing? I know for a fact you can’t hold the magical strain of possibly dozens of runes.”
Her grin only got bigger, “tell me Ellennara, have you ever seen one of my spells go wild?”
“I…” she paused to think. “No… I can’t say I ever have.”
“That darling,” she said, mimicking a pony from times long past, “is because my spells have simply never run wild before, Ever.”
“That’s not possible, no one can keep control of ever spell they ever cast.”
“Well I’ve never told anypony this but… I don’t really cast any of my spells.”
“What do you mean you don’t cast your spells,” Ellennara asked, not quite sure if Bloom was joking or not. “I’ve seen you cast spells, sure you need runes but you still cast them.”
“Yes and no, you see I have very little magic of my own, most of it goes to activating the runes I wear. After that I simply ask the spirits to do the spell I wish to have cast and they do. As far as I can tell only nature spirits listen though, the others just ignore me.”
“So that’s why you don’t have any defensive runes…”
“Ya, well I don’t need them, it’s not like I could force a spirit to my will even if I wanted to.”
“Even so, why tell me all this?”
“Umm well you see…” Bloom started, a little nervously. Her entire plan hinged on convincing a shaman, a real shaman not her warped interpretation of shamanism. And Ellennara was the only one that might be convinced to help. “I… that is, earth ponies can’t really do spirit magic so…”
“You want me to do it for you.” Ellennara deadpanned.
“Please,” Bloom squeaked.
“Do you have any idea how many types of illegal that is!”
“Only like four or five.”
“Are you mad, its breaking international law!”
“Who is even going to know?”
“Oh I don’t know how about whoever sees you with a fuckin soul bound elemental.”
This caught Bloom off guard, she had never heard Ellennara curse, ever. “I’ll say I made it myself.” At that Bloom could hear the unmistakable sound of Ellennaras hoof connecting with her face.
“You like just told me you couldn’t do this spell on your own.”
“And? You’re the only one who knows that. As far as everypony else knows I simply don’t wish to do anything but nature spells.”
“You could get in a lot of trouble for this you know…”
To Ellennaras surprise Bloom began to laugh at this. “What, are they going to arrest the poor blind pony for trying to get her sight back using spells that nopony knew she could even do? No I’ll be fine, worse comes to worst I’ll ask Celestia for help.”
“Wait what? You know Celestia, as in the ruler of Equestria.”
“Err ya... my sister used to be…important. Look can you forget I said anything, the point is I’ll be fine just help me, please.”
“This still seems like a bad idea Bloom, what if something goes wrong.” Even though she didn't push the issue, Ellennara hadn't missed how casually her friend mentioned the ruler of a country, as if she was an acquaintance.
“At least let me explain how the spell is done before you decide.”
After a long while Ellennara let out a defeated sigh, “fine, how is this theory you found done?”
“No way.”
“Elly please just-“
“No.”
“Come on for me.”
“I am not ripping apart a chunk of your soul and pinning it to an elemental!”
“When you say it like that it sounds way worse than it really is.”
“Worse than it is! You could die, or worse have your soul broken beyond repair.”
“So long as the runes are placed correctly, the journal said the risk of damage is low. I trust you’ll do it right.”
“You trust me, that’s nice because I don’t trust me. Low doesn’t mean zero Bloom, and I won’t risk your life on low.”
Bloom paused at this, opening and closing her mouth a few times as if looking for the words. After a long silence she spoke again, but this time was hardly above a whisper. “Elly I need this, please,” her voice caught in her throat. After a moment she continued, “I want to- no I need to see again. To see the grass and trees again, to see the endless blue sky, and the clouds that float through it. It’s been so long I can hardly remember what snow looked like as it blanketed my home town. Or the simple beauty of the night sky my princess makes for us all.” Bloom had to take a slow deliberate breath to steady herself before moving on. “I’ve never seen my room, or my cutie mark, or even you…” At this, her voice finally broke, and she would have been crying if her eyes still permitted such things.
“Do you know how I lost my eyes?” Bloom asked, the question catching Ellennara completely off guard. Bloom was rarely one to show such emotions, and never so openly.
“No,” Ellennara whispered, as far as she knew Bloom had never told anyone just how she came to lose her eyes.
“A creature form Tartarus ate them after it finished eating the rest of my family and burning our home to the ground.”
Ellennara gasped, she hadn’t known what to expect but that surely wasn’t it. “I-“
She started but Bloom quickly cut her off.
“I didn’t tell you for your pity, I just want you to see why this is so important to me.” She sighed, “My family owns a farm, an apple orchard to be precise. With what I’ve learned here I can regrow what was lost to the fire but I can’t run it without eyes. My family has been on that farm for generations and I won’t be the one that let the dead down.”
For a time there was nothing but silence, with only Ellennaras breathing to tell Bloom she wasn’t alone. The zebra was in the middle of an intense inner war with her better judgment, and it seemed as if her better judgment was losing. Every part of her mind was screaming at her that this was a bad idea, while at the same time telling her that any good friend wouldn’t leave a friend in need. There was seemingly no end to the mental circles her mind was running in. After a time it was the sound of Bloom breaking down into quiet sobs, having mistaken her silence for a ‘no’ that decided the inner battle.
Pulling herself to her feet she wrapped the earth pony in a gentle hug. It always surprised Ellennara just how small the pony was, seeing her walk around as if she owned the university made Bloom seem a lot larger than she really was. Surprised by the sudden contact Bloom was shocked out of her sobs as Ellennara whispered to her, “this is such a bad idea.” She sighed again and Bloom began to shake with a fresh round to sobs readying themselves in her chest. “We are going to need to translate that spell into something I can read so it can be studied. If you’re insistent on this I want to make sure it’s done right.”
Somewhere in the back of her mind Ellennara knew just how terrible an idea this truly was. But that side had lost the mental war, and as such also lost the rights to any input on the current situation.
The rest of the night passed rather uneventfully. The two spent it checking and rechecking there translation to be absolutely sure there were no mistakes. After all any mistakes no matter how small increased the danger Bloom was going to be put in. After the fifth check ended cleanly the two called it a night and headed for bed.
The following day was one that Bloom and the rest of her graduating class had been fretting about for weeks. It was the day the tests for graduation were announced. Normally the professors all got together to decide on a test for each of the paths of shamanism. The tests requirements would then be pinned up in the main hall on the board for everypony to see.
When Bloom arrived at the main hall everypony was crowded around waiting for a teacher to arrive with the test requirements. It took almost twenty minutes for anypony to show, and when they did something was off. Murmuring spread from the front of the crowd, followed by stunned silence. The only sound being the laugh of what must be the teacher as he walked away.
“What’s it say,” called a zebra in the back.
Most years the tests were hard, meant to challenge the students but always had a clear goal. This year however they either ran out of ideas, got lazy or just wanted to watch the students squirm because there was only two words. “Impress us,” called a masculine voice from the front. For a moment no one spoke. Then being the graduating class, full of students that were nearly shamans in their own right, they responded quickly and decisively. They panicked.
No one knew what would impress the teachers; they so rarely seemed genuinely impressed by anything. Kind and encouraging sure they had that in spades, but impressed? Judging by the rising panic as the students wracked their brains for something truly impressive, this wouldn’t be easy.
Bloom quickly slipped away from the growing commotion as her class tried to find an answer where there wasn’t a question. With a bit of a spring in her step she trotted off towards the library. Things were looking up for her at least, but she was going to need more books.
Bloom held her smile all the way to the library. Here was a chance to kill two birds with one stone as they say. Bloom for one wasn’t about to turn down anything involving lessening the population of those damn birds. Blasted things acted as if they owned the place, singing at such an ungodly hour. She would be glad to be rid of the creatures once and for all if at all possible. But now she was wondering off topic, books, yes she needed books.
Six hours later Bloom wondered aimlessly out of the library, her mind full of thoughts that made her considerably less happy than when she arrived. So far she had learned quite a bit more about elementals, none of it good. Her plan was looking less and less inspiring the more she studied.
It seemed that ‘true’ elementals could only be made with the base elements; fire, water, earth, and air. Elementals made of plants, or nature elementals weren’t ‘true’ elementals at all because they all had innate souls. The base elements themselves don’t have souls, so when elementals are made from them one of the spirits that govern said element acts as a stand in.
At first glance this didn’t seem to be a problem to Bloom. After all as an end result both of them end in the same state. But with a bit more digging on the subject it soon became clear why nature spirits would be an issue. The spirits of the base elements are never truly alive to begin with, as such apart from there standard behavior, they don’t have emotions or individuality for that matter. Nature spirits on the other hand are all alive, and as such act as any other creature with their own personality’s, wants and needs.
From what little Bloom could find on the subject it seemed that there behavior could be generalized by the type of plant they were. But even that left open a wide range of differences overall. So when one attempted to make a nature elemental, what they are really doing is simply twisting and evolving the plant or plants into a form more fitting for combat. What they cannot do is change the soul of the plant. This makes nature elementals volatile, unpredictable and difficult to control.
Bloom had wondered why whoever wrote the journal never mentioned using nature elementals. Now she knew, they would be a cluster fuck to control, and simply not worth the effort involved.
I haven’t seen you here in a while .
The sudden voice in her head broke Bloom out of her inner musings. Taking note of where she was for the first time in what must have been a half hour; Bloom found herself standing before a young oak tree. “Simply lost in thought,” she said, “my hooves must have taken me here out of habit.”
You’re always welcome here m’lady please have a seat.
Bloom just smiled as she sat beneath the oak tree, the vary tree she planted her first year at the university. “When did you become so polite?”
Please, I’ve always been polite, unlike some ponies. Even without sound, the trees voice held a playful feel to it. So tell me old friend, what troubles you?
With a sigh Bloom began to tell the oak about her plans for sight, as well as the problems that came with said plans. When she finished she wasn’t sure just what to expect from the tree. Laughter however was the last thing she thought she would hear.
“What?” she demanded, a little taken aback by the odd response.
Forgive me m’lady , the tree said with a chuckle, I simply find it amusing how you can be so clever yet miss the obvious.
“Explain.” Bloom said, now more curious than angry.
All this studying and planning can only take you so far, and do you see why?
“Oh ha ha, aren’t you funny.”
It’s because you m’lady are a pony not a zebra. The tree said ignoring Blooms comment. And not just any pony at that, you seem to be somepony special.
“What do you know about me?” Bloom said, a little too defensively.
I know you’ve been blessed by the Everfree that alone is enough to know you’re not normal.
”Blessed by the Everfree? Wait how do you even know about the Everfree?” Bloom was sure she never spoke of the forest or anything from her past for that matter.
The oak just laughed again, what kind of spirit would I be if I didn’t know of that place? If there was ever a place left where nature was still wild and well, free, it would be there.
“Ok so I’ll just forget the fact that you’ve never been to the Everfree, and the fact that it’s a three day train ride away. What was that part about me being ‘blessed’ about?”
Oh no, the oak said after a few moments, you really don’t know anything do you.
“Know what?” The anger was coming back, and her patience was slipping away slowly but surely.
Have you never been taught what it means to be a true Forest Walker? Has no pony showed you how your magic truly works?
“What do you think I’ve been doing here all this time?”
Oh you poor thing, the oak said with genuine sadness, and was that regret? I thought you knew m’lady. I’m so sorry I never said anything I just… she paused, as if looking for the right words. All this time I thought you simply wanted more knowledge, not that you lacked it to start with. Why did you never ask me for help…?
“What are you talking about?”
Please sit m’lady, I will explain everything to you as I should have years ago. I’m such a fool to have not seen the signs myself sooner.
To Blooms surprise she was in fact standing. She didn’t remember getting up but it didn’t seem like the oak had any intentions of going on until she sat. With a defeated sigh she retook her seat and patiently waited for her friend to continue.
Where to start… let’s see, I should start by saying that what those shamans have been teaching you is not truly how the Nature Walkers Path was meant to be used. Those damned zebras seem to believe themselves above any spirit, as such they strive to bind and control us. As if our relationship is that of a master and his servants. Not earth ponies though, as children of nature they have a natural connection with us.
“Wait, ‘children of nature,’ what does that even mean?”
It means just what you think it means. Being a child of nature means that you have an innate connection with nature, just as unicorns are children of the arcane, and pegasi are children of the skies.
“Are all creatures children of something?”
No, in fact most aren’t children of anything. The only others are dragons, children of fire. The children of the sea have been dead so long they don’t even have a name in your language.
“How do you know all this,” Bloom asked. “You’re only about nine years old.”
Unlike you, nature spirits aren’t born blank. We are born with quite a bit of knowledge from our parents. But we’re getting off topic m’lady, as I was saying children of nature treated us as equals, friends even. So when the spirits saw how hard it was for the earth ponies without much magic in the world. They decided to help the only creatures to be so kind to them, and so a contract was made with the first Nature Walkers.
The deal was that any nature spirits who saw a pony worthy of trust would be allowed to place their mark upon the pony’s soul. The mark shows the good will said pony has built with nature. With enough good will when a pony asks nature to bend to its will, nature may just listen.
“That explains why you said I was blessed, but why is a mark for plants in the Everfree so impressive?”
Because the Everfree is one of only three forests that could be consider feral, and is by far the most grand. To gain the trust and blessing of even part of the forest is impressive indeed.
“So nature spirits always listen to me because of the Everfrees blessing?”
Of course not, there marks simply stand out more than the others. There’s a whole host of trees that gave you there blessing. Seem to be apple trees for the most part.
”The orchard,” Bloom whispered.
With such a ridicules amount of trees that love you it’s no wonder why you never have problems when you ask for things.
“So I’m always going to be restricted to nature magic,” Bloom mused; she was up and pacing back and forth in front of the tree. A nervous habit born from loss of her eyes, she couldn’t say why but it helped. “I guess that’s not bad, it’s not extremely flashy but still very functional.”
Well that’s not entirely true…
This perked Blooms interest instantly, “how so?”
Well, so long as you’re within a few miles of a plant that’s marked you its possible to borrow there raw magic for your own uses. Normally not to useful for an earth pony but you’ve studied shamanism so…
As she trailed off Bloom picked up her line of thought, “so in theory at least I should be able to use most if not all of shamanism. That is so long as I’m within range of plants that have marked me.”
I’ve never heard of anypony pulling such a thing off, but it might just be possible m’lady.
“So can I…” she trailed off, a little embarrassed to be asking so blatantly, “can I borrow some of your magic?”
She got a light chuckle at this, no need to be shy m’lady, this works like any other time you do magic. All you have to do is ask and we will handle the rest.
At first all Bloom could feel was a slight pressure in her chest, she was beginning to believe something had gone wrong when it hit her. The rush of magic that flowed over her was like standing under a waterfall. Having such a small amount of magic naturally as an earth pony it felt like drowning without water. Even though she could breathe, every breath Bloom took seemed weighted with more than just air.
It became hard for Bloom to focus with so much magic in her, but she didn’t think far enough ahead to have a plan. This was so much more than she expected so she threw it all into the first spell that came to mind. Had she been in a more stable state of mind Bloom might have thought better than to super charge her bracelets with many times more magic than they were designed to use. Unfortunately for her such thoughts couldn’t be heard over the cacophony of silence the magic brought with it.
For a split second everything was back to its old peaceful nature, and then the magic of her spell came crashing back like a tidal wave. For just one moment Bloom could see it all, in perfect color and detail she could see everything for miles around herself. Everything from the smallest pebble to the clouds in the sky stood before her. Then she passed out.
Trust Me, The Tree Did It...
Upon waking Bloom found out just how much of a gift her blind eyes could sometimes be. Judging by how badly her head was pounding with every heartbeat. She was sure that the sunlight would have been the most painful of curses.
“You’re finally awake I see.” The voice of the evil zebra, who had cruelly spoken above a whisper sent waves of pain across Blooms skull. Moaning, the poor pony rolled over clutching her throbbing head, and let out a string of curses that would have made a sailor proud.
“Oh I’m sorry my dear,” the zebra said much softer this time, “but could you tell me what happened to you? A few students brought you here saying they found you unconscious under a tree.”
“Do you have my bracelets,” Bloom asked what must be the schools doctor, completely ignoring the question. She made sure to whisper not wanting the pain to come back in force.
“Well,” the doctor said a little unsure, “yes and no. We do technically have them, but they seem to have exploded…” She trails off as if she expected a reaction, possibly a violent one.
“Figures,” Bloom muttered. She had expected as much from the overload of information, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t hoped they were fine. Now she would have to beg Ellennara for new ones. “Hay doc, do you think I could get something for the pain in my head, its driving me mad.”
“Sure Bloom.”
It took almost twenty minutes, and an excess of help from Ellennara for Bloom to get back to their dorm room. The walk back was one of the most frustrating times in recent memory for the earth pony. Without her bracelets Bloom was forced to lean against Ellennara as she guided them back. At first the proud pony tried to navigate by connecting with the plant life, and using them as a guide. Sadly there weren’t enough trees to help guide her, and talking to the grass was an exercise in futility if there ever was one.
In the end Bloom was forced to swallow the pride she held in her independents and rely on her friend to guide her home. By the time the two made it to their room Blooms mood had significantly soured. Regardless of the fact that no pony would judge her for needing a little help ever now and again it, was a blow to her pride to ask for assistance. After all she didn’t work this hard simply to be left asking for others help, even if they were her friends and would freely give it.
“So Bloom, am I invited to the pity party,” Elllennara asked.
“The fuck did you just say,” Bloom snapped. Normally she kept a level head, and kept her tongue under better control. But the time she spent with her gryphon friends had long sense rubbed off on her, and now when she was stressed out her speech would slip. Lucky for her Ellennara wasn’t like most zebras (or ponies for that matter) and didn’t mind the more, colorful language her friend sometimes used. And even if she rarely ever said any curses herself, she wasn’t shocked and appalled like most equines.
“What was that Bloom? ‘Please, please replace the bracelets I blew up , I’m begging you Ellennara.’ Was that what you were saying, you mumbled and I believe I misheard you.”
Bloom couldn’t do anything but sigh, she had lost this one and she knew it. “Yes Ellennara my dear that is exactly what I was meaning to say. I am dreadfully sorry but sometimes I mumble when asking others for things, still I am so glad you understood me through all of that. It would have been simply the worst. Thing. Ever. If you were to mishear me.
Ellennara put up a good fight, but she couldn’t help it as she burst into laughter at the complete one eighty Bloom just pulled. “So Bloom, while I get started on replacing your bracelets, why don’t you tell me how you blew the first ones up,” Ellennara said through her giggles.
Even though she knew this question would pop up sooner or later, Bloom still wasn’t looking forward to it. The main problem was that she herself was still struggling to fully come to terms with all the information of this afternoon. Just thinking of all the implications and possibility’s was starting to bring the headache back. In the end Bloom decided to say the most honest thing she could think of, after all it wasn’t in her nature to lie.
“Well… a tree did it.”
“A…tree?”
“A tree.”
“Like, the big wood things with leaves and sometimes fruit?”
“No the things made of stone and steal. What the fuck were you thinking of?”
“No need to get smart with me,” Ellennara said, “I was just making sure we were talking about the same thing.”
“Wait. You believe me?” Bloom asked surprised. The doctor had just brushed her off saying ‘if you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine.’
“Well yes. You’ve never lied to me before, in fact I don’t think I’ve ever heard you lie as long as I’ve known you. Plus if anypony could get a tree to blow something up it would be you,” Ellennara added with a giggle.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Bloom deadpanned. Though the frustration was quickly draining away, leaving nothing but a small earth pony standing in a room full of plants, equal parts tired and excited.
“So, you mind explaining how a tree blew up your bracelets?”
“Well,” Bloom began, “it all started when I left the library.”
“Well…” Ellennara said once Bloom finished recounting the day’s events. She could certainly see why Bloom had seemed so lost in thought sense the infirmary. The implications alone of having access to the magic of every plant around were huge. Not to mention everything that may or may not be possible with that much magic at hoof. “Does this mean you’re going to study the other branches of shamanism?”
“I don’t think I will,” Bloom said after a few seconds of thought. “I have little interest in earth magic, and a blind earth pony has no place in the air or the open sea…”
Bloom trailed off after that, but no words needed to be said. They both already knew she was never going to study fire magic in any capacity. Bloom had, had a fear and hatred of fire for as long as the two were together. Once when they had just began to live together Ellennara lit a candle to study into the night. As soon as she smelled the smoke, little Bloom ran and hid under the bed. It took Ellennara an hour to get her to stop crying, and another forty minutes of promises never to burn anything ever again to get her out. Still for the next three days Bloom was overly jumpy and frightened. As she got older that fear slowly changed into hatred, as a few of the students of the Ember Walkers Path found out the hard way.
“Still this solves your elemental problems.”
“Yah,” Bloom said distractedly, “but what tree should I use?” It was a comment more to herself than a true question, still Ellennara answered it anyway.
“Isn’t that obvious? Use the tree you planted, you two are already so close I’m sure if you asked she would say yes.”
“What am I asking her to marry me?” Bloom asked with a chuckle.
“No your just asking her to house and shelter a part of your soul with her own, no big deal.”
“When you put it like that it sounds like so much, what if she says no…”
“From what you’ve told me of that tree, she loves you. I don’t think her saying no will be a problem.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Good, now if you’ll excuse me I have a lot of work to do because of somepony…”
It took most of the night, but Ellennara got all four of Blooms bracelets done. With a smile she placed them all gently into the small tree next to Blooms bed, making sure to tell the tree to inform Bloom of them before heading to bed herself.
The next four days passed in a blur for Bloom, she talked to the oak tree about her plan. Much to her surprise the oak was all too happy to help in any way she could, but warned that she didn’t have the magic Bloom would need. It would take much more magic than the young tree could hold to transform her from into that of an elemental. So for the rest of their four days, Bloom and the oak practiced taking and holding magic. This time with much less random explosions. The plan they came up with was a simple one, Bloom would take as much excess magic as she could and funnel it into the oak. From there the tree would handle the transmutation and all the other more subtle details. After the creation of the elemental, the two of them would make their way back to Blooms dorm room, from then on it was Ellennaras show…
For once it seemed to Bloom like everything might just go as planned. She woke up extra early on the day of the exams to make sure everything was perfect. Running a bit of her limited magic through all her runes to make sure they weren’t damaged. She had asked Ellennara a few days earlier to make a few runes for her to help regulate and control the excess magic her plan required she use. They all seemed to be in working order, so Bloom continued with her morning routine before she headed down for breakfast.
The atmosphere in the dorms cafeteria was one of silent tension, and Bloom didn’t need eyes to know it was caused by the graduating class. Truth be told, even Bloom was beginning to question just how good of a plan she really came up with. Still it was far too late to back out now, and while a bit more time would have been nice, today was the day.
Quietly like the rest of her class Bloom got her breakfast and sat down, choosing a table at random. All the students at the university knew of Bloom, she was a bit hard to miss given her unique state. So it was quite normal for the earth pony to randomly sit places, as such no one minded when she chose there table.
“So,” she started, “who do I have the pleasure of eating with today?” It was the question she started most of her days off with. Her runes may help her not walk into walls, but everyponys face looked the same when the world lacked detail.
“Umm, we just got here a few days ago. You wouldn’t know us Miss Bloom,” a distinctly female voice stammered.
“No need to be nervous, I don’t bite.” Bloom flashed them a smile before starting on her salad. “Oh, and just Bloom is fine,” she said after swallowing her bite. “’Miss’ makes me sound older and more important than I really am.”
That seemed to do the trick, and soon enough the four were once more chatting excitedly about how great it was going to be to learn shamanism. With a bit of an argument about what the best path of shamanism was. Bloom just lessened quietly while she finished her breakfast, occasionally offering bits of information when asked. Before long however the headmaster entered the room, calling the graduating class outside to the courtyard. It was time to begin the exams.
The graduating class was fairly small this year, only fifty seven students qualified for the exit exams. So they were split off into groups of five, (and one group of two) and assigned to a teacher. Bloom was assigned to Valenia, a shaman of the Tide Walkers Path. She had always been a kind teacher, if a bit strict, and had a gift for painting. Or so Bloom had been told, having no way to tell for herself just how beautiful her art was.
Valenia greeted the group with the usual pleasantries before leading them off away from the rest of the students. Once she found a place with a bit less noise, she asked if there was anypony who would like to go first. Sense the only thing we were meant to do was impress, Valenia also asked if there was a specific place we needed to be for our spells.
“I guess I could start sense I don’t need to go anywhere.” The speaker stood to Blooms left, and he sounded as nervous as Bloom felt.
“Your name is Zin, correct,” Valenia asked. Shuffling around what sounded like paper.
“Yes ma’am,” Zin replied nervously.
“And what will you be showing us today?”
“I will be attempting to condense the air in an area to be as solid as stone, and have it hold my weight.” To the poor stallions credit he did try to sound sure of himself, even if the result was questionable at best.
“Well Mr. Zin,” Valenia said warmly, “whenever you’re ready you may begin.”
Bloom didn’t have to wait long for the familiar tingle that told her magic was being used. Judging from the whistles of approval from her group mates, and the fact that he was floating a good five feet off the ground he must have pulled off his spell. Next to go was Asa, a Tide Walker like the teacher. She led the group over to the fountain, and proceeded to make the water in it rain up and form into a cloud about fifty feet up. From the groups reaction it must have been quite a sight to see. The third to go was an Earth Walker whose name Bloom didn’t catch. He made a flowing river out of solid stone that acted just like a river of water. It even splashed and made ripples when a pebble was dropped into it. The last student before Bloom was a student of the Ember Walkers Path. A mare named Pattern, who set a bush on fire without so much as singeing a single leaf. Needless to say Bloom had excused herself for that last demonstration, not wanting to be anywhere near fire of any kind. Still even though she was a ways away, sense this was the only spell involving plants so far, it was the only want Bloom could truly appreciate.
Finally it was Blooms turn to go, and she could help but shift nervously on her hooves. “And lastly Bloom,” Valenia said gently, “what will you be showing us today?
“Umm, about that,” Bloom started, her voice coming out higher than normal due to her nerves, “we will be heading over to the oak tree I planted when I got here.”
“Wont the trees here work?” Valenia asked.
“Well the oak is the only tree large enough that’s mine, and I need a tree that the university won’t mind losing.”
“Wait, you’re just going to destroy a tree,” Zin asked unimpressed, “Anypony can do that.”
“Did I say I was destroying a tree?” Bloom asked, her temper rising at the comment, and her words had more venom in them than was probably necessary.
“Well no…”
“Exactly, so shut up and watch.”
The walk over to the oak was spent in silence after that little outburst. Which was just fine for Bloom, she spent the walk over gathering as much magic as she could from every plant around. Once they arrived at the tree Bloom walked over and sat down right in front of it.
With a sly grin she looked at where Zin stood, “Now don’t look away, you’ll love this.” With that she looked back to the tree and prepared to get started pumping magic into it.
“What are you going to be doing Bloom,” Valenia asked.
“Me?” Bloom asked innocently. “I’m going to turn this tree into a nature elemental.”
The stunned silence was all Bloom needed to start her plan. You ready for this? She asked the oak.
Let us begin m’lady.
With that Bloom began to pour all the magic she had until now into the tree. At the same time she reached out as far as she could, asking all the plants for any magic they could spare. The gasps that accompanied the cracking sound as the roots pulled themselves from the dirt was like music to Bloom. As she poured more magic into the tree it began to fold in on itself, until there was just a large orb of wood floating in midair. The process was going faster than Bloom thought it would, but judging by the sheer volume of magic she was throwing at the oak it wasn’t that surprising.
Last step? Bloom asked the oak.
Sure is m’lady, now tell me what you want me to look like.
Bloom had thought long and hard about the shape her elemental would take. And after four days of thinking she finally came up with the answer. With a grin she opened up her mind, showing the oak an old image from years ago. And just like that Blooms part was over. The tree had all the magic she would need, and the shape to aim for. Now all Bloom had to do was sit back and watch an elemental take shape before her.
The first thing to appear were the four large clawed paws, each attached to legs reminiscent of a wolves legs. The sphere elongated to form the beasts torso, with a tail made of sticks and branches. Once its face formed it was clear that this was a timber wolf, though this thing made the ones found in the Everfree look like puppy’s. With a growl, the wolf simply tore the wood on its mussel into a mouth. As its mouth form into a grin, a row of jagged and splintered wood formed into teeth. Lastly its eyes opened to show pits of glowing green magic where its eyes should be.
At first it just blinked and looked around, as if trying to get its bearings. Then the great wolf, standing easily as tall as Princess Celestia, turned to face the tiny earth pony sitting before it. Bloom for her part was currently wearing the biggest grin she could muster as she faced the wolf without a shred of fear. The same however couldn’t be said for the zebras behind her. Slowly the wolf lowered its head, a soft growling sound coming from its throat. And once it was eye to eye with Bloom, it opened its mouth and gave the small pony a lick that almost knocked her off her hooves.
“Stop it you dork,” Bloom said through her giggles, “we have to go show Ellennara and tell her I passed.”
This must have broken everypony out of there stunned state, because Zin quickly asked, “How can you be so sure you passed.”
Bloom and the wolf both turned to face him as if he were stupid. “If I don’t pass with this,” she deadpanned, “I fail to see how any of you will manage to pass.”
With that she turned and began to walk to her dorm with a bit of a spring in her step. The wolf following close at her heals.
Can You Do That To A Soul?
“Wait!” Valenia yelled as she ran to catch up with Bloom after recovering from her shock. To her credit she only slightly faltered when the huge wolf turned to look at her, “You can’t just go walking around with that thing, aren’t you going to unsummon it?”
The other members of their group, seeing that the wolf had yet to make an aggressive move, decided it was ok to follow. Still they made sure to keep a good distance from the elemental, not wanting to test just how gentle it truly was.
“That doesn’t look like any of the elementals in our books,” Zin said, his voice shaking a little.
“Oh?” Bloom deadpanned, “And how pray tell am I to know what an elemental looks like?”
“She’s got you there,” Asa giggled, it seemed that with her exams over and done with, Asa was a much bubblier zebra. Her mannerisms reminded Bloom of a more down to earth Pinkie.
“Regardless of that you can’t just walk around with that… wolf.” Valenia said, attempting to regain control of the situation. “Even if it is harmless, it’s liable to cause a panic if you just strolled around the university.”
“What else would I do?”
“Unsummon it?”
“I can’t,” Bloom stated a little shyly, “it’s far harder to unsummon an elemental than it is to make one and I simply don’t have the skill.” She was telling the truth, even if not all of it. She really didn’t have the skill herself to unsummon the wolf; she just never mentioned that she didn’t truly do any of her spells.
“Then we can call Elsrend and have him unsummon it.”
“It’s possible I suppose, the problem is that nature elementals have free will. This one here loves me,” Bloom said placing a hoof on the wolf, “that’s why she listens to me. What she would do to Elsrend if he tried to unsummon her I couldn’t say.”
“What about safety runes? There has to be some in place just in case your spell went wild.”
“About that…” Bloom said, scuffing the ground nervously with her hoof. “I kind of don’t use safety runes… ever.”
“You’re telling me that you summoned an elemental with no safe way to send it back?” Valenia seemed shocked that anypony would be so reckless.
“You make is sound so bad when you say it that way, have a little faith. I’m no good with runes, that’s why there aren’t any, if I can just get back to my dorm ill have Ellennara make some.” Bloom said just a little too cheery. “The sooner I get back to my dorm the sooner this wolf is bound.”
Valenia was quiet for a moment, she was weighing the pros and cons of letting Bloom walk through the university with an unbound elemental at her side. After a few more moments of silent contemplation she came to a decision. “Fine, you can go Bloom. If there was ever a time you could just walk around with that thing it would be during the exams, still keep it close. I don’t want to cause a panic if I don’t have to.”
“And smile!” Asa added as she bounced around. “You can’t look scary with a smile!”
Reluctantly Bloom put on the brightest smile she could muster. “Like this?”
“Don’t smile,” Valenia deadpanned after a second, “it makes you look like you’re up to something.”
“Yah, I’ve never seen anypony with such a natural evil villain smile in my life.” Zin added.
“I know what you mean,” Bloom said, “no matter how hard I try it never quite reaches my eyes.” The rest of the group went quiet at this, not quite sure what to say to such an off-color joke. “Oh come now don’t be like that, I know there gone it’s not news to me. They have been gone for going on ten years now but that doesn’t mean you can’t laugh, I was proud of that joke damn it.”
“I suppose it was funny,” Valenia started, “but I’m not so sure it should have been and that’s the problem.” She paused for a second after this, as if collecting her thoughts. After a few more moments she continued, “Your dark humor aside, you are all dismissed. Your exams are over so feel free to do whatever it is you like for the remainder of today. Tomorrow the pass/fail lists will be posted in the main hall.” With that she turned and walked away from the group, towards the conference room the teachers of the university used for meetings and such.
Everypony remained standing where they were as there instructor left them. Not a word was spoken as the reality that there final exams were well and truly over began to sink in for the first time. Deciding that somepony should probably break the silence as it was beginning to get awkward Bloom spoke up first.
“Well everypony, it’s been fun, but I have things to do, elementals to bind, you know how it is. I’ll see you around.” With that she turned from the group and began the walk back to her dorm, with her newly acquired timber wolf right beside her.
As easy as she tried to make it look, creating the elemental wolf took a lot out of Bloom. Channeling that much magic through herself, and with her body as unaccustomed to the work as it was, took a great deal of effort. Though it took much less now that the wolf was fully formed, it still required magic to sustain itself. Without the runes to allow it to absorb excess magic on its own, Bloom was the one who had to supply the magic. It wasn’t currently a problem but with the strain she had already gone through it would become one sometime soon. Lacking the skill to create such runes herself, and not wishing to see just how long she could remain a magical conduit, Bloom sit off for home with renewed vigor.
To her surprise there were only a few zebras that ran away screaming. Most of the time the zebras she met just quickened there pace, or tried their best to get out of Blooms way. This was preferable to her in any case; it cut the walk that normally would have taken around ten minutes down to six. To anypony who worked up the nerve to ask about the giant timber wolf trailing the blind earth pony, ‘exam’ was the only response needed.
Even with the steady pace she had, it set Blooms mind at ease when the large building she had come to call home came into ‘view’. It was the largest of the dorms, and being the first to be built it was made of stone. Her room tended to get a little cold in the winter, still Bloom was glad for the stone now. It meant that her not so lite elemental could be taken to her room on the top floor without risking it falling through.
With a smile Bloom picked up her pace even more, eager to be getting inside and show Ellennara her elemental. And to a lesser extent eager to stop scaring the poor zebras around her, though as for that she would probably have the wolf with her at all times from now on.
“Guess they will just have to deal with you for a while until we leave wont they,” Bloom murmured to the wolf beside her.
I guess so m’lady, still I feel bad scaring these poor zebras.
“Don’t, they don’t have any reason to be scared yet they are, seems to me that it’s there problem at this point.” The wolf made a sound like a more feral version of laughter at Blooms comments. This however sent any zebras close enough to hear it running in fear.
As Bloom neared the dorms another problem presented itself to her. The quickest way to her room was up the north stairs. These however were located through the student lounge, which was currently filled with students. Not being one to make things harder than they had to be Bloom took the easiest and quickest course of action. She strolled through the front doors and shouted loud enough for everypony to hear her, “The wolfs with me, don’t freak out!” She then continued on her way up the stairs to her room.
This brash decision worked for two reasons. One; Blooms voice was unmistakable, but more than this no pony could ever remember hearing her yell before. She had been very quiet when she first arrived at Axum, disliking her new voice and also somewhat embarrassed about it. Over the years she came to except her new voice, but her quite nature was a habit that wasn’t so easily broken. The second reason her plan worked was much simpler; Bloom had just yelled the strangest thing any of the zebras had ever heard. Between the shock of what she was yelling and that she was yelling, once the wolf walked in with her everypony was too shocked to run and scream.
Of course not everything went as smoothly as the student lounge. Bloom met a group of two mares and a stallion on the stairs to her room. The mares jumped in surprise, but the stallion let out a scream that belonged to a mare half his size. This quickly got rid of the tension as everypony present (and one elemental) broke down into fits of laughter at the sound. A quick explanation and a few flights of stairs later brought Bloom to her dorm room door.
As Bloom entered her room it was clear Ellennara was ready for them, most of her rooms mess was rearranged. She could ‘see’ the clear outline of a mass of runes in preparation for their little plan. Still if Ellennaras strangled scream was anything to go by she was in no way expecting the elemental to be so scary. It took Bloom a good ten minutes to calm the frightened zebra, she was more scared than anypony else had been. Likely due to the fact that she was trapped in a small room and the wolf was sitting in front of the only exit. Still even after she finally calmed down, Ellennara sat as far away from the wolf as there small room would allow.
“You know she isn’t going to bite right?” Bloom asked. She was working very hard to convince the zebra that it was safe to carve the required runes into the wolf’s hide.
“Of course she won’t bite you…” Ellennara had made it painfully clear she didn’t think it was a good idea to take a blade to an unbound elemental wolf.
“You won’t bite Ellennara if she carves some runes into you will you,” Bloom asked the wolf as if she were talking to a puppy. For her part the wolf gave a happy little bark of agreement, somehow this didn’t quell Ellennaras fears.
“I’m still not so sure about your plan, are you sure we have to do this?”
“Ellennara,” Bloom deadpanned, “look around you everything is in place. Don’t tell me you’re going to leave me hanging now.”
“Fine.” Ellennara said after a long silence. “I’ll go get my tools and start on the wolfs runes, but when it bites me I’m blaming you.” She got up and went over to her work bench, grabbing her tools while she muttered about how stupid this idea was to herself.
It took Ellennara a few hours to complete the runes for continuous energy absorption, by the end of it the wolf’s left foreleg was completely covered in an intricate pattern of runes. The end result was just perfect though, allowing the elemental to get all the magic necessary to live independent of Bloom.
Another side effect of the process was Ellennara became quite comfortable with the large wolf. So much so that she had even taken to scolding it when it moved as she was working.
“Finally finished,” Ellennara stated as she stretched her stiff mussels. “Now don’t you go wrecking all my hard work by scratching or chewing on that leg, you understand me young lady.”
The large timber wolf nodded vigorously, something about this small zebra left even the elemental frightened to displease her.
“Good, now follow me, “Ellennara said getting to her hooves. “If you’re truly serious about binding your souls to one another then I’ve everything ready. This idea still scares me, but I said I’d help.” With that Ellennara walked to the back of the room she had claimed as her own years ago. It was separated by hanging rugs in an attempt to block out the sun from Blooms sunroof.
As Bloom followed Ellennara into her side of the room, it was almost comical how stark the difference was. There was a soft glow of runes that permeated the space, easily picked up on by Blooms magical sight. Though something was off, the many runes made it seem to Bloom as if everything was hazy. Like she was looking at it all through a smoke filled room, the gentle hum of the plant life around the room was still there, just out of focus. After taking a moment to adjust herself to the ambient magic that seemed to be trapped in this side of the room. Bloom took a seat and was promptly followed by the wolf.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” Ellennara joked, “just let me get everything ready to go and we can get started.”
Bloom didn’t respond, she was too nervous after all thinking of how much work had gone into this. And just how great it would be when it was all over and she could see once again. Of course the other option was still there, but she couldn’t think about that now, not if she wanted to keep her nerve.
“Nervous?” asked Ellennara, “you know you can still call this off if you’re having second thoughts.”
“No.” Bloom said immediately, pausing to compose herself after she heard how desperate her voice sounded. After a second she started again, softer this time. “I mean we have come this far, I want to see how the story ends.”
It took Ellennara almost ten minutes to check and recheck every part of the spell to be sure nothing was out of place. During which time Bloom couldn’t sit quite still, the waiting was driving her nerves crazy. “Do you think we will be all right,” she whispered to the wolf at her side.
I don’t know m’lady; I have no memory of anypony trying something quite like this. I trust Miss Ellennara to do everything in her power to keep you safe though.
“I suppose your right, all I can do now is trust her.”
“Finished,” Ellennara said as she finished double checking the last of the runes. “Now I’m going to need to take your b bracelets so that they don’t interfere with the spell.”
Bloom wasn’t happy about losing her sight, but she was already all in so what’s a little more? With a slight sigh I resignation she removed her precious bracelets, passing them to Ellennara before finding her way back to the wolf. Unsure of just what she was expected to do next, Bloom just leaned against the wolf and waited for Ellennara to instruct her or begin.
“Just sit there and try not to break any of the runes,” the zebra said as if sensing the pony’s dilemma. “Oh,” she added from somewhere behind Bloom, “When we start this you’re going to black out. Will that…” she paused looking for the right name for the elemental.
“Timber wolf,” Bloom finished for her. “She doesn’t have a name yet, going to have to fix that soon.”
“Yes, well will that timber wolf stay still?”
“Well she was originally a tree… so yes I think she can do still.”
“If you say so, I’m just saying if that thing goes nuts we are both doomed.” Ellennara’s voice had more than a tinge of fear in it.
“Don’t worry I trust Bastion, I planted her after all.”
“Bastion,” Ellennara asked.
“Well if we are going to be together until I die she needs a name,” Bloom said a little unsure. “Don’t you like it? I thought Bastion was a fitting name.”
“It’s oddly literal; though considering what we are about to do I suppose it fits quite well. Ok then Bastion, you stay still now or we are all going to have a very bad day.” With that Ellennara walked to the center of the room and placed a hoof on both Bloom and Bastion. “Let’s get started.”
“What do I…” Bloom never finished that though as she was violently thrust into unconsciousness.
Ellennara closed her eyes and waited for the pulling sensation the journal had described as the tell that her mind had crossed over. She still wasn’t truly sure how it all worked, only that it did work. When it happened it was less of a slight pull and more like getting forcefully dragged, though that might have been her own fault as she wasn’t fluent in this magic.
Moments later Ellennara came to a stop as the dragging ended, opening her eyes she was greeted with a sight unlike anything in reality.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” came a voice from behind the zebra, looking back she saw a face she didn’t recognize. A small filly with huge golden eyes that seemed to shine as she grinned up at her visitor. Her voice too rang out clear as a bell, what gave her away was her huge red bow. Though it was bright and without any of the wear its counterpart in reality had, it was still unmistakable.
“Bloom?” Ellennara whispered.
The filly just giggled up at her, “who else would be here silly, this is how my soul remembers me as this is how I was the last time I saw myself.” With a smile the filly did a little spin, “this is me the last time I was truly whole.”
For a moment Ellennara was so stunned she just stood there and stared at the upbeat filly before her. Unable to completely come to terms with the fact that her friend had once smiled this much.
“Come on silly don’t just sit there, you’ll run out of magic before long so let’s get to work.”
“Right! Sorry, I’m going to need you to take me to your soul.”
“Wow, did you even read that journal? This is my soul, what you need is me to make it tangible.” With an overly dramatic sigh the little filly closed her eyes, when she opened them again the two were standing before a large tapestry. It was easily two stories tall and just as wide with changing images of Blooms past. There wasn’t any rhyme or reason to the shifting pictures that made up the tapestry.
“Well?” Bloom said.
“Right,” Ellennara replied as she got to work.
It was a long and tedious process to separate a portion of Blooms soul without damaging it in any way. After what seemed to be hours of work Ellennara heard the sound she had been dreading. It was the low ringing of what sounded like a huge bell, but the zebra knew what it meant. Her time was quickly coming to an end. Looking at her work so far she was only three fourths of the way finished taking apart Blooms soul. This was taking too long and was costing the zebra much more magic than she originally thought it would.
“What is that sound,” Bloom asked, her voice betraying her worry much easier because it lacked its usual broken rasp. As she looked away from the sky where the sound seemed to have come from to her friend her heart sank. Ellennara had tears forming at the edges of her eyes, and was muttering ‘fuck’ over and over again to her. “Am I going to die?” The small earth pony didn’t sound scared, there were no tears in her eyes. Her voice was now steady and calm, reflecting the calm feeling that now permeated her soul. She had come into this prepared to join her family if things went south.
“No,” Ellennara said to the surprise of the pony, “But when im done here you might wish you were.” With eyes full of tears she turned to face Bloom, ‘I’m sorry’ she mouthed. If the words were ever truly spoken though Bloom would never know. For at that moment it was impossible to hear anything over the sound of her tapestry of a soul being torn apart.
Bloom watched in equal parts horror and fascination as Ellennara began murmuring words too low to be heard, moments later a hundred of small runes appeared in the air above her now frayed soul. With a wave from Ellennara the runes twisted and warped into silver spikes, before the nailed down all the frayed edges to prevent farther fraying.
“Bring me to the wolf.”
Bloom absentmindedly waved her hoof, instantly shifting the landscape. Having already resigned herself to death, she now was simply interested to see what Ellennara did with her soul. They stood in a vast open space, at the center of which was a massive sphere. It was much more solid than Blooms soul, and seemed to hold the memories of many different trees and there long lives.
As soon as Ellennara began to approach the sphere a horn sounded. “Fuck!” Ellennara yelled as she closed her eyes and started murmuring what Bloom could now tall were incantations. Seconds later runes began to appear all around the chunk of Blooms soul. A hundred or so became the spikes that had pinned the frays down on the rest of her soul; the rest became a number of things. As soon as the spikes pinned Blooms soul to Bastions, a dozen runes became a chain binding all the spikes together. Twenty or so more became needles and thread and began sewing the two souls together. The last seven became thick wire that stitched a rune of sight through both souls, completing the process.
Somewhere in the distance a harp sounded, signaling that she had about a minute left before her magic ran dry. As the darkness slowly began to invade both their vision Ellennara turned to Bloom with sadness in her eyes.
“What now,” the tiny filly asked.
“Now,” Ellennara said her voice catching, “Now we wait and see how much damage I just did.”
Bloom woke up to a strange feeling unlike anything she had ever known before. No that wasn’t true, she could remember this feeling from somewhere. Yes it was the same feeling she had after her family was killed. It wasn’t pain; pain was to physical a feeling, no she felt… hollow. It was like a piece of herself was missing and would never come back. The feeling was almost comforting to Bloom, she had been sure she would be broken beyond recognition after what happened to her soul. And even with the missing pieces of herself she also felt something more, much more. It was Bastions soul, she was filling the gaps in Blooms own and then some. With bastion by her side the pony felt as if she might just make it out of this whole thing ok.
Awake at last I see. I’m glad to see you’re at the very least alive m’lady.
The sudden voice of Bastion in her head startled Bloom from her internal evaluations. It wasn’t just the voice though, the voices of plants just popped into her head all the time. If she didn’t actively block them out they would come through as clearly as if they made physical sound, a side effect of her shamanistic training, and becoming more attuned to the spirits around her. Still even then, even with their words sent directly to Blooms mind it was always clear whose thoughts were whose. This time however Bloom nearly mistook Bastions words for her own thoughts.
Did I scare you? I’m sorry. As Bastion spoke Bloom could feel a tinge of regret coming from the elemental.
No no, don’t worry about that Bastion, I was just surprised is all .I’ve never heard your voice so… internally before, it caught me off guard. It took Bloom a second to realize that she hadn’t spoken a word of that out loud. She had responded with thought, something she had never been able to do, so easily that it scared her a little.
Are you alright? Bastion had felt Blooms tinge of fear and confusion.
I’ve never been able to do that… this before.
Convenient isn’t it?
Extremely, Bloom said. Then something occurred to her, why is it that it’s still dark? Did the spell not work or something?
It’s nothing like that, Bastion said with a bit of a chuckle. I just have my eyes closed at the moment. I didn’t know what state you would be in when you woke up, and I didn’t want to overwhelm you. You are ok right, she added still a bit concerned.
I won’t say I’m fine but I’m close enough, and I took this risk for a reason. Open them. Internally Bloom was doing her best to prepare for sight again. It had been so long, and she didn’t count that time she overloaded her bracelets. That had been such an intake of information it could hardly be called ‘sight’. When Bastion finally did open her eyes what she saw took Blooms breath away. The colors, the textures, the hues all of them perfect. After a moment more of simply reveling in the wonders of sight, Bloom began to take notice of just what she was looking at.
In front of her sat a pony, relatively small even compared to the zebra sleeping next to her. Her mane and tail were still vibrant red as she remembered them always being. Strands of gray could clearly be seen in both, the type you would find in a pony three times her age. Oddly enough her coat seemed to have avoided the touch of age. Her ribbon though was clearly showing its age and use. The strip of cloth that now covered her mangled eyes had once been as bright as her hair. Now it looked worn and slightly threadbare, its color just a memory of yesteryear. All and all she looked… tired.
Except for her cutie mark, that looked new. No, taking a closer look Bloom found that it was new. She had never seen her old cutie mark herself, but others had told her about it and it was most definitely an apple tree. This one though was not only not an apple tree, but also the largest most intricate mark she had ever seen, or herd of for that matter. The tree was a great oak whose branches and trunk took up most of her flanks. The roots however were the odd part; they stretched down to her knees, twisting down like real trees would. Being an ex cutie mark crusader Bloom knew cutie marks. They didn’t dictate what a pony was good at like what most thought. No they were simply a sign of something that was innately true about a pony, as if it was part of their soul. When a pony learned whatever that was about themselves the mark would appear. Normally as a simple picture that expressed that aspect. The key part of that was ‘simple,’ this looked like it was painted by an artist, as if a breeze would rustle the leaves.
Is… is this your work Bastion? The earth pony was trying to decide if she should be mad or not for the change. After all she had never truly ever seen her old cutie mark, and as such wasn’t too attached to it.
No it is not m’lady, if I had to guess I would say it is because you pinned your soul to mine.
You’re probably right, there’s no telling just how much this binding has changed us both. Speaking of change do you know what’s wrong with me?
No, but I can feel what you’re talking about. It’s as if a part of you is just… off. It’s a bit difficult to put into words.
I guess it’s no use worrying about it; I’m sure all my new breaks will show up sooner or later. I’m just glad my mind seems to be all right for the most part. At that Bloom got up in search of her bracelets.
With Bastions help it only took a minute to locate where Ellennara had placed the bracelets. The most difficult part turned out to be trying to walk with eyes not on your own face. Bloom quickly gave up on that plan, and with a bit of introspection found the link to Bastions sight and cut it. Everything went smoothly after that and Bloom soon found herself sitting beside the zebra once again. Lightly poking, talking, and even shaking couldn’t seem to wake her sleeping friend. Losing her patience the small pony soon left, only to return moments later with a glass of water. A few shocked sputters later and Ellennara was once again firmly in the waking world.
“Can’t you *cough* ever just wake me up like a normal zebra?” Ellennara choked as she glared daggers at Bloom.
“I’m neither a zebra, nor normal so no I can’t.”
That seemed to bring the previous afternoons exploits crashing back to Ellennara’s now fully awake mind. “Oh my gosh Bloom are you all right? Do you feel ok, do you know who I am. Do you know who you are?” She would have kept fretting if Bastion hadn’t let out a low growl. Ellennara immediately stopped talking to look at the wolf. As if she just now realized she was in the presence of a large elemental, possibly under the control of an extremely unstable pony.
“Thank you for that Bastion,” Bloom said casually, “to answer your question I’m fine for the most part. I still seem to remember everything about my past, though I can tell that something in me is missing, or at least partly gone. As for what that is, I have no idea, though I don’t think that matters. Ill find out sooner or later.”
“I have one more question the,” Ellennara said, this time a little nervously. “Why are you here Applebloom. ”
Bloom froze mid step, and all but forced Bastions gaze to the zebras face. “How do you know that name?” her voice betrayed no emotion as she spoke.
“I had my suspicions for a while now, but once I saw you in your soul there was no doubt anymore. There was also a zebra that showed up a lot in the tapestry of your memories.”
“Zecora…” Bloom said, still staring at Ellennara for a sign. Of what she didn’t know but she wanted something, anything to give the zebras thoughts away. Sadly she was woefully out of practice at reading expressions, she couldn’t tell heads or tails of what she saw on Ellennaras face. That was until she mentioned Zecora, then it lit up like a firework.
“WAIT Zecora, the potions master Zecora?”
“Err, I don’t know…” Bloom was a little taken aback by the sudden shift in mood. “She uhh, spoke in rhymes all the time.”
“Y-you knew Zecora,” Ellennara stammered out, staring at Bloom in complete shock.
“Yah I guess, I would spend the night over there from time to time when I was a filly. I don’t see why this is such a shocker, she’s just a zebra who made potions.”
“Zecora is a genius! She came up with tomes full of potions and spells thought to be impossible. Not to mention she is considered a master in every branch of shamanism. It’s even said that she speaks in rhymes because saying things normally is to boring to her. She is the shaman other shamans dream of being.”
Bloom just shrugged as her friend finished ranting, “she’s just Zecora to me, the weird zebra in the Everfree who rhymes a lot and makes cool potions.”
Ellennara just stared, her mouth opening and closing as if trying to form words. “How… how can you say that about possibly the greatest and most influential shaman in history?”
“If I told you to forget everything you saw in my soul would you do it,” Bloom asked. She was well aware of the inevitable answer but still she had to try. Also she hoped this sudden shift would keep Ellennara from going on another rant about Zecora.
Her plan did work to some extent; Ellennara did drop the Zecora subject. Though it was to pick back up her first question, “only if you tell me why you are here.”
“Because I wanted to, isn’t that all the reason I need?” Bloom knew her answer was weak, but one can always pray it’s enough. It wasn’t.
“Your sister and the other Elements of Harmony are like celebrities even here. Not to mention how close they are to the princesses of Equestria. I’m sure they would have been more than happy to take in the little sister of one of their greatest heroes. So I’ll ask you again, why are you here. And please the whole truth this time, I think I’ve earned that much.”
Bloom drew in a deep breath before speaking again. “I’m here to find enough power to rip the horn off the element of magic and the wings from the element of kindness.”
“You’re kidding,” Ellennara said chuckling at the supposed joke. Only Bloom wasn’t laughing, or smiling, she was deathly serious.
“Those two fools are the reason I don’t have a brother or sister or grandmother anymore…” her voice came out as no more than a whisper. She looked as if she would say more, but was never given the chance as the dorm room door slammed open.
Fallowed moments later by an unmistakable voice yelling, “congratulations on passing your exams! Bloom you’re the first pony ever to graduate Axum as a full-fledged shaman!” Nydari, one of Blooms oldest friends here in the zebra lands, and the first gryphon, stood in the doorway grinning. Her grin quickly faded as she noticed the tense atmosphere in the room. As well as the rather large wolf, who was currently lying behind Bloom looking at the strange gryphon.
“What’s with the serious mood,” Nydari asked, “this is cause for celebration.”
“Bloom wants to kill two of the Elements of Harmony,” Ellennara said. Throwing tact to the wind in hopes that the gryphon would help her talk there friend out of this madness.
“I never said that.”
“You’re right I’m sorry,” the zebra stated dryly, “Bloom wants to brutally maim two of the Elements of Harmony.”
Both Ellennara and Nydari looked at Bloom, as if they were expecting an argument. One that never came. “Don’t look at me,” the pony said, “that’s about the gist of it.”
I may not fully understand m’lady, but isn’t what you are planning just a bit insane?
As we are now, yes it’s completely insane. Twilight Sparkle may be trash but she has enough power to level a small town. With some more training though and if we can get the Everfree forest to back us, then it becomes an achievable feat.
I would try to dissuade you, but I can tell it would be pointless. So let’s find a way to maim something at the very least an order of magnitude beyond us.
That’s the spirit.
All was silent in the small room for a long time after that. Bloom was busy talking to Bastion, Ellennara was at a loss for words, and Nydari hadn’t spoken her mind yet. To fill the laps in conversation, Bloom took to looking over her friends for the first time… well ever. Ellennara wasn’t too far from how Bloom imagined her. She didn’t have Zecoras mohawk, and her stripes were a bit different. They had more wave to them, as if they could begin to swirl at any point but never quite did. Her cutie mark was a potion bottle filled with runes, and it looked like part of her coat more than ponies marks did. Her stripes faded into and out of her mark flawlessly, and Bloom absentmindedly wondered what it looked like before she got a mark.
Switching her attention to Nydari, the first thought she had was ‘white’. The gryphons feathers where all the color of freshly fallen snow, her ice blue eyes completed the look. She remembered her friend once saying that she was from the frozen north, which would explain the lack of color. Bloom could tell that the gryphon would all but disappear in falling snow, and with how silent Nydari could be…
Her thoughts were cut short by Nydari breaking the silence with a question. “So what Elements are you going after anyway?”
Ellennaras head snapped around so fast it was a wonder she didn’t hurt herself. “You can’t be seriously considering her idea. Its madness, I’m starting to believe that spell broke her more than she’s letting on.”
This time it was the gryphons turn to look confused, “what spell?”
Now she’s gone and done it.
Somehow I don’t see this going well m’lady, should we do something?
Nah, let Ellennara suffer a bit longer, it’ll be fun to watch her try and fix this. Plus I’d trust Nydari with anything, even this.
…
“Err its nothing,” Ellennara stammered, trying desperately to find a way to turn the conversations course back on track. “Forget I said anything.”
The gryphon stared at the flustered zebra with a deadpan look, “you’re a shit liar Elly and you know it.”
Ellennara looked desperately to Bloom, begging with her eyes for an out. The earth pony just sat there pretending to be blind. It was a struggle to keep the smile from her lips but she managed through sheer force of will. The show must go on after all.“Ask Bloom if you want to know.”
Oh what a cheap way out… I’ll remember this Ellennara.
“Bloom?” Nydari asked, this time a little more concerned than previously.
“Ellennara ripped out a peace of my soul and pinned it to Bastions,” she said tapping on the wolf she was now leaning against.
“What!” The gryphon shrieked, whirling on the zebra who was staring at Bloom in indignation.
“Oh that’s just dirty Bloom, leaving out almost all the information to make me look like the bad guy.”
Bloom just grinned at her friend, “Not so much fun to be on the other side is it?”
The gryphon for her part looked more confused than ever. “Please will you all just slow down and explain…” before Nydari could finish her sentance the door to the dorm room was blown off its hinges. The oddest part about it was that the door was blown out onto the hall instead of into the room.
Settoris ran up the stairs, mentally preparing himself to arrest or kill whatever he might find in that room. It hadn’t been too long ago, just after the exams were wrapping up that was when he felt it. A ripple in the ether, it was anything but subtle and the headmaster knew just what it meant. Someone had done serious damage to a soul, and it was so close, definitely in his school. It had taken him far longer than he would have liked to track down just where the spell had come from. Now that he had though there was no way he was letting something this illegal get away from him.
With a thought Settoris summoned the wind inside the door, and blew it off its hinges with enough force to toss it all the way down the hall. “Anyone who moves is as good as dead…” the zebra walked into the newly formed hole with a threat. His voice was as cold as ice, a tone he hadn’t used in years. What he found in the room wasn’t quite what he had expected. Staring at him with wide eyes was two of his students and a gryphon he saw around from time to time. An elemental wolf sat behind Bloom, he had heard about it from quite a few students, but Valenia assured him it was harmless.
“Who was it that destroyed a soul?” His tone hadn’t changed, but his confusion had reached a new high. How did these students even know such a spell, and why would they attempt it? Plus everyone seemed to be alive, so just who’s soul was tampered with?
Bloom was the first one to regain her senses and respond to there clearly angry headmaster. Seeing no other option she did something she made a point to never do, she lied through her teeth. “I made Ellennara do it sir, with bastion here.” Tapping the wolfs leg to signal who she was talking about. “She didn’t have much choice but to do as I said, so I had her take part of my soul and place it inside the wolf.”
Settoris had his doubts about that story, after all Bloom and Ellennara were well known to be as close as sisters. Still even though tears were flowing from the other zebra’s eyes, she wasn’t saying a word to contradict Blooms story. And just looking at the small earth pony it was clear she was sticking to what she said. He just had one more question then, “Why?”
At this the pony smiled, just a bit. “So I could see again, why else?”
Settoris let out a sigh, at the very least no one was killed so that was good. “You know I have to take you to jail right Bloom?”
“Wait what,” the gryphon said, finally finding her voice at the thought of her closest friend going to jail. “She did it to herself why would you take her, how long would she be gone?”
“Considering what she’s done is highly illegal I can’t just let her go, and she will probably go away for a long time, maybe forever I couldn’t say.”
“You can’t just take her like that.” Nydari sounded desperate at this point, something Bloom had never heard in her friend’s voice.”
The headmaster just sighed, “there’s nothing that can be done, now come with me Bloom.” However before Bloom could as much as move the gryphon was leaping at Settoris. To say that the headmaster was surprised would be an understatement. He was completely shocked, it had been nearly twenty years sense anyone had, had the nerve to attack him. He was an eight time winner of the Bloodstone Arena. To say his reputation preceded him was like saying wind precedes a storm.
Catching the gryphon in a wind prison Settoris had to ask, “Do you know who I am child!” To punctuate his words, the headmaster summoned the four elements to spin around the grphons wind prison. He didn’t get an answer however, because that was about the time all hell decided to break lose.
Motion in the corner of his eye drew his attention, and what he saw was more startling than the gryphons attack. The wolf, the one behind Bloom, on the other side of the room was now a foot away jaws open wide. He summoned another wind prison at a speed that would make a unicorn jealous, catching the wolf like the gryphon. That thing had no right to move that fast though, nothing that big had any right to move fast enough to scare him. And anyone else, anyone else dies right there…
His thoughts were cut short by the startling sensation of being dragged through the air by his back leg. One of Blooms plants had wrapped around his leg and he was now flying towards the sunroof at a frightening speed. With another burst of magic he summoned the wind at a speed no living shaman could match. Blowing out the sunroof at the same moment he sliced the vine from his hoof. As he exited the building via the new hole Settoris used the wind to not only stop himself, but also catch every shard of glass midair.
Someone had caught him, him! The shaman who was known for his legendary speed, known for being nigh impossible to catch. For just a moment Settoris was no longer the headmaster, and these were no longer his students, they were the enemy. He almost sent the shards of glass crashing back into the room with deadly speed. But he managed to get back control of himself; these were his students, not enemies. And he wouldn’t be the reason they were sent to the morgue.
Slowly he lowered himself to the roof of the building, still holding the shards of glass around himself like twisting snow. With a bit of effort Settoris seized control of all the air in the room he had just left. With a thought he pulled everything that wasn’t nailed down, and some things that were out of the room to hover before him.
No, he thought as he brought the inhabitance of the room to float at eye level with him, he wouldn’t harm them. But this was his school and this madness ended here and now…
To say that Bloom was a wreck would have been a massive understatement. She had lost control of herself to the fear as soon as the headmaster had summoned the fire. Now she was shaking like a leaf in the corner of a jail cell, trying to regain a semblance of control. Her mind was slowly calming down, making way for rational thought. With it came contemplation over what she had just done, and why. No matter how many times she went over the day’s events, it all came back to the fire. They had long sense stopped having candles or lamps of any kind in the dorm room. So the first bit of fire she had seen after their little spell was from Settoris. Not only that, but her fear seemed to have infected Bastion as well if her reaction was anything to go by.
I think we found one of our broken spots.
Are you alright m’lady? You blocked me out soon after that zebra showed up and I couldn’t get through to you at all.
I seem to be ok now, I think it’s just fire that sparks such a reaction.
You are still clearly shaken from that, I can feel it from here. Let me help you.
Ellennara was about to ask how when she felt a great calmness come over herself. The kind of simple peace that only a tree could know passed through the link between their souls. Thank you. Where are you now?
In a cell, floating in one of those wind spells that zebra casts. It seems he isn’t taking any chances with me.
Do you think that feeling would be enough to counteract my new fear of fire?
Probably not completely, but it might keep you calm enough to think before you act.
Good enough for me. At that Bloom stood and stretched, before calling out for Nydari and Ellennara.
The response came almost imminently from the cell beside Blooms own. “Bloom, oh gods I was so worried about you. You looked so scared when the fight with the headmaster started.” The worry in her friend’s voice was as clear as day, and it brought a smile to Blooms lips to have such a friend.
“I’m fine now,” she said, “just tell them to keep all fire away from me and I shouldn’t have another… episode. I'm fairly sure fire is one of my triggers.”
“Bloom what the hell are you talking about? I know you never liked fire but you’ve never acted like you did back there around it.”
“If you want all the details ask Ellennara when you get out. That aside do you know when I’ll get to write my letter?” Every prisoner got to send one letter out to anyone they wanted when they were arrested.
“Whenever you want I suppose I could yell for them. But I just attacked the headmaster of Axum University, I don’t think I’m getting out of here for a while.” Nydari sounded defeated.
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll see to it that you get out of here. Now if you would be so kind as to call the guard for that letter.” The gryphon wasn’t entirely convinced about her friend’s sanity, with her earlier fear and now her confidence in the face of all her charges. She had overheard the guards talking about the pony's charges, what she had done was seven types of illegal, not counting the attack on headmaster Settoris. Still she called the guard as Bloom asked.
“Here’s your paper, quill, and ink,” the guard said when he arrived, sounding non to enthused about his job.
Bloom just chuckled, “as you can see I’m blind. If you would be so kind as to give that to the gryphon over there she will write this for me.”
“Whatever you say,” the guard said leaving the writing supplies in Nydaris cell. “Call me when you’re done.” At that he left without another word.
“So, how do you want to start this Bloom?”
The earth pony was a bit to cheery for a creature facing life in prison, or worse. What she said however was even more shocking. “Dear Princess Luna...”
Rarity woke up as she always did on the weekends, slowly. She made sure to set aside every weekend to unwind and spend time with family and friends. So no matter how busy she was, or how many orders she still had to do, the weekends were a work free time. Years ago Rarity would never have dreamed of taking every weekend off, there was simply too much to do. She would already be down stairs working right now on a new design or a dress that needed finishing, but those days were gone. After the Apple family died, well, she had to reevaluate everything. Work no longer took precedence in her life, and she started setting aside more time to spend with friends. After all who knew how long any of them truly had left?
Stretching, Rarity set the coffee to brew down stairs, brought in the mail leaving it on the kitchen table, and filled Opals food bowl for her breakfast. She also started making herself a salad, and used a modified version of her gem finding spell to locate all her friends in town. Her morning routine started, Rarity made her way to the shower to get freshened up while the coffee and salad were being made. Most unicorns struggled to control more than a few objects with their telekinesis, and line of sight was usually required to manipulate an object. However with the sheer number of objects flying around Rarity’s shop on any given day, she was quite comfortable controlling dozens of things at once without ever seeing them. So long as she knew where it was, she could pick it up and use it as if it sat in front of her, a minor perk of the job.
Finally looking presentable, she made her way down stairs to the small kitchen and was greeted by a fresh salad next to a steaming cup of coffee. A small stack of letters also awaited her appraisal in the center of the table. Well small in comparison to most days, it was still much more mail than most ponies got. As she enjoyed her breakfast Rarity went through the stack of letters. Most of them were as expected, orders for dresses, invitations to parties, the normal fare. One letter caught her eye though as she was perusing the mornings arrivals. It was from the zebra lands, which was odd in and of itself, considering zebras weren’t much for pony fashion. They seemed to consider it much too flashy and over the top for their tastes. Needless to say a letter from the zebra lands was, well, a rarity.
Opening the letter Rarity found two folded stacks of paper inside, one much larger than the other. The larger of the two had ‘Luna’ written boldly across the front, while the smaller said ‘Rarity’ in the same print. Anything signed to the princess had Rarity’s full attention, but she decided it might be wiser to read hers first if for nothing else than to gain context.
Dear Miss Rarity,
It’s been a long time and I have a huge favor to ask of you. Before that however I believe introductions are in order, I’m Applebloom…
Rarity lost her magical grip on the papers, and they fell fluttering to the floor. The name shocked her, she never thought that she would ever see or hear the filly’s name again. The last time she heard anypony mention the filly was when Luna said she was still dreaming, she couldn’t be found but she was still dreaming. It had been over nine year’s sense then. As the shock faded, it was quickly replaced with anger… no rage. Somepony had the nerve to pretend to be the missing sister of her dead friend! Picking the letter back up in her magic Rarity was determined to find whoever thought up this twisted idea of a joke and make them pay dearly.
…but I just go by Bloom now. Anyway I don’t expect you to just believe me because I say it in a letter, so I’ll prove who I am to you.
I suppose the obvious place to start is with the CMC. The Cutie Mark Crusaders was meant to be a ‘secret society’. Heh, that didn’t stay secret long, did it? We got Babs Seed to join, but aside from that it was just Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and me. We were often too loud, had a knack for destroying anything we touched, and from what I remember we must have been a nightmare during sleepovers. Even our crusades looking back weren’t all that bright of ideas. Though I blame Rainbow for telling us to try everything to get our cutie marks, and we did try just about everything. From pig farming, to mind-reading, to mountain climbing, even zip lining somehow made it into the list. I personally still can’t believe I didn’t get my mark for fixing up my sisters old clubhouse. Did that old thing make it through the fire? I didn’t get the chance to check…
The letter went on to detail a few more of the crusaders adventures, but Rarity found it difficult to read through the tears. Sure somepony might know one or two of the crusaders adventures, but not all of this. Half of this stuff even she never knew about until Sweetie told her years later. Which left only one conclusion, the letter floating in front of her was truly from Applebloom. This simple realization was enough to break the dam and let the tears flow freely down Rarity’s cheeks. All the memories of that little filly were unwittingly forced back to the surface. And with them came the unwanted memories. The memory of Pinkie running through town at an impossible speed towards the hospital, a blood stained filly on her back. It wasn’t until later that Rarity learned that the filly was Applebloom, and just how bad of shape she was in. At the time she couldn’t waste time chasing Pinkie; she had to get to Sweet Apple Acres and help put out the fire. If only it had been just a fire, Rarity would never forget the carnage she found when she arrived. Even now it made her light headed just thinking about it; Applejack, Granny Smith, Big Mac all dead and partly eaten. Strewn about the yard were also pieces of what she later found out was the troll they placed in the Everfree forest. Whatever Pinkie had done to that thing when she arrived she never said, so Rarity and the others never asked.
As for why exactly they had put a troll in the Everfree to begin with was a point of much self-loathing for Fluttershy and Twilight. The six had been sent by the princesses to investigate the disappearances of two cows near the Everfree, a few miles up the tree line. It didn’t take long with a tracking spell from Twilight to find where the cows had been taken. It was a clearing not far into the forest, but it didn’t take an expert to tell the group that the cows had been eaten. The blood all around the clearing coupled with the scent of death that permeated the clearing left little doubt in the groups minds of what happened here. They were just about to leave when a sickeningly sweet voice called out from above, “to what do I owe the pleasure of such company?”
Looking up to a tree at the other end of the clearing Rarity saw quite possibly the most frightening creature she ever had the displeasure of meeting. It sat upon a low hanging branch, with its back to the tree and one of its tall spindly legs hanging off the limb. It wore a robe of what looked to be leather over its bone white body. Its forelegs were long, much longer than they should have been for a creature its size. They ended in long thin fingers much like Spikes, only they had seven digits with what looked like bone protruding from the end of each. Its rear legs were different however; they ended in what looked like twisted roots of flesh and bone. How the thing was meant to walk on that was a mystery to Rarity. The things face was grinning, but that didn’t help its appearance as it showed off the rows of sharp teeth inside. There was no nose on its face that Rarity could see, only its large smiling mouth and huge eyes, blue as the summer sky. It was hard to tell what the thing was looking at as there was no pupil in its eyes, no iris either, just a mass of azure.
The thing used its long fingers to brush its inky black hear out of its eyes before sliding gracefully out of the tree. “You know it is quite rude to stare,” he said, still smiling. Now that he (the voice was clearly male) was standing not twenty paces from her Rarity could see just how tall he truly was. Celestia would only come up to this things chin at most.
“Did you do this,” Rainbow demanded as she gestured around them. It was no surprise she would be the first to come back to her senses.
The laughter that came ringing from the monsters throat was kind and inviting. The type of laugh that makes you wish to play the jester if only to hear it again. “My dear of course I did this, do you see anyone else here?” The tone of his voice was so warm and comforting, like a trusted friends. That’s what made it so frightening to hear such cold words delivered so sweetly.
Dash’s anger clearly rose, and if it wasn’t for Twilight interrupting her she might have attacked the thing then and there. “Why is a troll this far from home?” She said it with the curiosity of a scholar, but behind that was the hint of a threat.
“It seems someone has done their homework to know where it is we live. As for why I’m here,” he smiled taking a step forward. “My lady told me that I could start something interesting here.”
“That doesn’t explain why you would kill these cows,” Twilight said clearly getting more agitated.
The troll answered with the innocence of a child, “lunch.”
That must have been the last straw for Twilight, because she blasted him in the chest with a sleep spell the moment he finished speaking. The amount of magic behind it had to be massive as well for the spell to light up as it did; blinding everypony the instant it was cast.
For a few moments everypony was silent, not really sure of what to do next. Then Rainbow spoke up, “I guess we should get rid of this thing…”
Fluttershy gasped, “How could you even suggest such a thing!”
Rainbow just sighed, as if she were too tired to start this today. Deciding to help her out Rarity spoke up, “I have to agree with Rainbow on this one darling. That… thing ate two cows without a second thought, it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t do it again. We simply can’t leave something like that to just run around freely.”
“So you just want to kill it! We could…” she struggled to find a solution that ended without more death, and it was clear she was coming up with very little. “We could come up with something else,” she finished weakly.
“Well…” Twilight started, looking around at her friends. “…we could just bring it back to its home in the Everfree, or at least closer to it. It’s quite a ways so it couldn't just randomly wander out again.”
Fluttershy immediately brightened at this. “See girls we don’t have to kill anything. We can just bring it home where it can’t hurt anypony.” She looked from face to face in search of approval to the idea.
“It’s a gamble,” Pinkie said. There wasn’t a hint of her usual mirth anywhere in her voice, it was flat and serious. She said nothing else after that, just walked past the troll and began to bury what was left of the cows in a shallow grave.
“I know you like to take care of all them critters sugar cube, but this ain’t one of your critters. So I’m gonna have to agree with Rares on this one, this creatures clearly dangerous.” Applejack looked over at Twilight and sighed. “Still I know I ain’t the brightest pony here, so if Twilight thinks it will be ok then I’ll follow her.”
Rainbow grumbled under her breath before she looked up at Twilight. “You already know I will do what you think is best. But I still don’t think it’s a good idea to leave that thing alive.”
Twilight and Fluttershy looked over at Rarity then, eyes clearly asking where she stood. “Twilight dear, I’ve given a lot throughout my life, but it hurts to think you would have to ask if I’d give you my trust. If you truly believe you can end this with no more blood then I will trust your judgment.” Back then it had been true, Rarity had been quick to give her trust to a friend. Now though trust was the one thing that she wouldn’t give away freely, it had to be earned.
It hadn’t taken much time to finish burying the cows, and with a bit of magic Rarity carved a headstone for each grave. She didn’t know their names but she thought the intricately carved stones were better than nothing. After that was done Twilight bound the troll’s limbs with enchanted vines and they were off. There was no path to follow, but Twilight assured them that if they just went east long enough it would be hard to miss the troll empire. And so they walked in relative silence for hours, venturing deeper into the Everfree than any one of them had ever gone.
Rainbow once again was the one who finally broke the silence to ask, “Just how far away do we have to go?”
“About as far as you are now.” It took Rarity a moment to relies it wasn’t one of her friends talking, nor was it the troll who was still sleeping. It didn’t take long to find the speaker, and who she found cause Rarity to jump. There, seated on a fallen tree was a changeling grinning at them. It was strange though; it stood about as tall as Luna with a bright pink mane and tail much like Pinkies and eyes to match. Its horn too, unlike other changelings was smooth and curved back like a blade.
“Changeling,” Twilight all but spat the word as she fired up her horn and blasted it with a sleep spell. The spell however never reached its target; it simply flowed around the changeling like water around a stone to harmlessly hit a tree.
“Now aren’t you the rude one, just up and shooting spells at strangers.” The smile didn’t leave her face though, nor was there any malice in her voice.
Rarity wasn’t the best a judging the power of others, but had Twilight taken the time as she had to see how strong the stranger was she would not have fired at her. You didn’t have to be skilled at sensing magic to feel the waves of raw power that thing was radiating. “Twilight darling I don’t think you should try that again…” Slowly Rarity stepped in front of her friend to address the changeling. “I apologize for my friend, she is none too fond of changelings I’m afraid. Perhaps we can try this again, hello my name is Rarity.”
“Look at the manners on you, I like you. My name is… hmm let’s see there are so many to choose from its hard to just pick one.” The pink changeling tapped her chin as she searched for a name. “Archive, yes that one seems to fit well. You can call me Archive my dear.”
“Alright Miss Archive, what brings you all the way out here?” Judging by the fact that Twilight had stopped trying to get around Rarity she must have got a peek at Archives magic. Rarity just hoped she could end this without a fight, because even if Twilight was the Element of Magic she would surely lose this fight.
The changeling smiled as she hopped off the log and began to walk towards the group, “I’ll be taking the troll off your hooves. Then I’ll be sending the lot of you home.”
Without a word Twilight levitated the troll over to Archive and laid him at her hooves, untying the vines as she did. “You’re such good girls,” the changeling said kindly. “I know the next few months will be hard, but stick together and you’ll get through it.”
Rarity was about to ask what she meant, but she wasn’t there anymore. There was no glow or flash, no puff of smoke, just there one moment and gone the next. She turned to the girls to ask if they saw that, but when she looked behind herself all she saw was bolts of cloth. She was home in her boutique. She never saw Archive again, and even Twilight could never explain how she had pulled of such a large scale teleport without so much as a glow.
A knocking on the door broke Rarity from her memories and back to her kitchen table and the letter in her magical grasp.“I’m coming darling,” Rarity called as she got up and made her way to the door. Opening it she was greeted by an overly happy pink ball of parties and smiles. As she started her usual rambling of anything and everything at illogical speeds Rarity just smiled. It had been a long time after Applejack died before she could even smile again, let alone throw a party. It was months before Pinkie came back to them, and it surprised Rarity just how much she needed the party mare’s energy. “Pinky darling, please calm down and tell me why your here.”
“I’m throwing a party and I came here to drop of your invitation!” At that she shook at pink invitation out of her mane and presented it to Rarity.
“Darling there isn’t a name on here, who is the party for exactly?”
Pinky just laughed, “Oh Rarity you don’t have to know who the party’s for to set it up. My Pinky Sense told me somepony would be coming home soon so I’m getting ready to throw them a party.”
Rarity glanced over at her table and the two letters sitting on it. “Hay Pinkie, do you think you could give an invitation to Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo?”
“That’s a great idea!” With that the party pony ran out the door in a pink blur. Chuckling to herself Rarity closed the door and returned to finish up the letter.
I hope you believe me now, if not I’m a bit fucked…
When did little Applebloom pick up such uncouth language?
…I’d love to tell you everything right here and now, but I’m running out of paper. So do two things for me, please, and I promise I’ll explain it all face to face. Firstly, please send the second letter to Princess Luna as soon as you can. And second, please don’t read that letter. It has things in it I’d rather stayed between me and Luna. Do that and I’ll answer all of your questions as soon as I get home.
Thank You.
Rarity looked at Luna’s letter for a long time. On one hoof Applebloom had asked her not to look. Then again she wanted to know so badly… maybe just a peak? As she opened the folded paper the first words at the top of the page were: CLOSE IT RARITY.
She had to laugh out loud at this as she closed the letter again in defeat. Applebloom, or was it just Bloom now? Anyhow she didn’t seem to be in the best place at the moment. The letter seemed to be written in a rush, and for that matter how did she even write a letter with no eyes? And what was she doing in the zebra lands for all this time anyway? Well she could ask once Bloom was home again, for now Rarity needed to go find Spike.
Knocking on the door as she made her way into the library Rarity called out for the purple dragon. Hearing no response she decided he must be out running errands for Twilight. She was about to leave when Twilight yelled down from the second story, “can I help you Rarity?
“Could you tell me where Spike is darling?”
“Oh, he should still be in the market shopping, why?”
“I’m just sending a letter to Princess Luna.”
“Should I be worried,” Twilight asked as she looked up from the book she had been reading.
“Not at all darling this is a good letter,” she replied flashing Twilight a bright smile. “Well I’m off to find little Spikey.”
Leaving the library Rarity couldn’t help but think of just how much everypony had changed, and she wondered if Bloom would notice there changes. Twilight was probably the one who changed the most; the scholarly unicorn had taken Applejacks death incredibly personally. In her eyes she was the one everyone put their trust in, so it was on her if anything went wrong. She became engrossed in her books afterwards, as if she could find the answer to death if only she had more knowledge. She even broadened her scope of research to encompass everything from military strategy to medical knowledge. Twilight had always loved learning, but it changed from a love to an obsession. Rarity had to all but drag the librarian outside to keep her from becoming a complete introvert.
Rainbow had secluded herself as well after the funeral, dragging her cloud home higher than most could reach and turning its walls to storm clouds. When she finally did come down it was to promptly join the guard. She didn’t let it consume her life like Twilight, but it was clear she never wished to feel helpless again.
Fluttershy became more secluded than she already was. Not leaving her cottage for weeks and hardly eating anything. It took a lot of time and effort to pull the little pegasus from her self-loathing, but with the help of her animal friends Rarity somehow managed.
Rarity for her part kept it all together, at least in front of others. With the rest of her friends falling apart around her, she didn’t have much of a choice but to be a point of stability for them. Not just them either, but Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo as well. The little fillies were still so young and all they knew was there best friend was missing. Her family was gone, and all the grown-ups seemed to be falling to pieces around them. Even though Rarity was broken as well, even though she cried herself to sleep for a long time that was what makeup and silencing spells were for. Everypony else was a walking wreck, so she had to at least pretend to be alright for the others.
Smiling at how it all turned out in the end Rarity arrived at the market and began looking for Spike. The dragon wasn’t hard to spot seeing as he stood about as tall as Luna now, with a large set of wings that came in about a year ago. The dragon was by no means still a baby, but Rarity kept his nick name all the same to tease him. “Spikey-wikey!” she called loud enough for half the market to hear, and was rewarded with his claw smacking his face in embarrassment.
“You do that on purpose don’t you,” he grumbled as Rarity fell into step beside him.
“Whatever do you mean darling?” It was hard to keep the grin from her face, but she managed to hold it down for the moment.
Spike just rolled his eyes and smiled good-naturedly. “Nothing, forget it. What brings you out here today Rare?” The young dragon had gotten over the crush he use to have on her, and sense then the two had become close friends.
“A letter,” Rarity teleported the letter from her table to hover before Spike. “I need you to send it to Princess Luna.”
“Sure,” Spike said. Taking in a deep breath and burning the floating letter in green flame. “What’s the letter about anyways?”
Rarity laughed and turned to head home, calling back to the dragon. “Go to Pinkies party if you want to find out. Until then take care darling.” With that the fashionista made her way home, she had to make a present after all.
“Are you sure the Princess is coming?” It was getting late in the day, and the sun was setting in the sky above them. There had been no changers all day, and Blooms trial was set for early the next morning.
“She is the Princess of the Night; I don’t think she even wakes up before around now. She will be here don’t you worry.” In truth Bloom was losing faith, but she wasn’t about to let that show.
“I’m not so sure abou-“ Nydari never got to finish that thought, as it was interrupted by what sounded like the crack of thunder just above there building. “The fuck!” the gryphon shrieked, followed shortly after by the thump of her falling out of bed.
Bloom just started laughing like she had lost her mind. “That,” she said between chuckles, “would be my ride.”
Bloom didn’t need Bastions eyes to know Luna was watching her. It wouldn’t have been a problem, if not for the fact that there was no sound in the train car but their breathing. It seems that everyone on the train decided it would be a good idea to choose seats away from the princess of the night, and the large scary wolf made of wood. The princess had apparently teleported all the way from her castle in Canterlot. This resulted in the thunderous boom announcing her arrival, as well as quite the display of swirling shadows filled with stars, if the whispers on the street were to be believed. And so the three of them sat in the empty train car, Bastion didn’t even breath, Luna seemed more than content to simply let the silence be, and Bloom; Bloom was desperately trying to will the awkward out of the still air.
After giving up on making the awkward leave, Bloom started running through equations in her head, trying to figure out just how much power it must have taken to teleport from Equestrias capitol, to the far end of the zebra lands. Dragging up an old memory from ‘cutie mark crusaders train conductors’ Bloom plotted the rout this particular train took to get back to Equestria. The trip took around 2-3 days by train depending on how many stops there were along the way. It was an old rout, and as such took a long winding path around the mountains; sometimes even meandering off to connect an obscure town. Still even a straight teleport would take an absurd amount of magic. Luna didn’t even seem winded when she marched into the jail demanding there release, and that there charges be dropped as a favor to Equestria. It hadn’t taken much for the charges to be swept under the rug, almost as if no one wanted to deal with the mine field that was Bastion and Bloom. That, and if the cold in the room was anything to go by, it was in no one’s best interest to argue with Luna about anything right about then.
All and all things went surprisingly smoothly. A bit of paperwork, and a short walk later found the three on a train bound for Equestria; in silence. Using Bastions eyes, Bloom sneaked glances at Luna trying to see if she was mad or not.
Do you think I should talk to her?
Probably m’lady, she did save you after all.
But what if she’s mad at me? You felt how cold it was in the prisons office.
Are you scared of her? There was a clear taunt in Bastions voice.
I feel no shame in saying that yes, yes I’m scared of the massively powerful lunar princess, who can teleport from Canterlot to here, without so much as a sweat I might add. What if she’s mad? What if I’m not the Element of Honesty? What then? Bloom was starting to sweat now, even though the train car was quite cool thanks to Luna’s presence.
Please calm down m’lady, there isn’t anything we can do about that now. All we can do is take everything in stride and hope the princess understands.
You’re right, you’re right. I’m going to talk to her. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Bloom licked her lips nervously before starting. “T-thank you Luna.” Her voice sounded small and broken even to her ears.
Luna looked away from the window to stare at the little pony in front of her. A long time passed, and Bloom was starting to worry she shouldn’t have said anything when the princess let out a long, exasperated sigh. “I cannot believe you actually were stupid enough to do something as absurdly irrational, as a soul binding. To a tree no less, have you completely lost your mind?” She looked out the window again, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “More than that though, I am extremely impressed with that young zebra friend of yours. Few could pull off a soul binding with so little training and not kill the participants; she will become something great someday.”
A wry smile crawled across Blooms face. “To tell the truth, I wasn’t sure myself she could truly do it. Looking back now everything seems to have turned out rather well considering.” Her smile spread into an all-out grin as she faced Luna. “Especially the part where the lunar monarch rides in on thunder to save the poor filly from jail.”
Luna made an extremely un-princess-like snort at this, “riding in on thunder was I?”
“The way I hear it you road thunder and shadows across a bridge of starlight, all to save me from a truly awful fate.” She shrugged, “at least that’s how I’m gonna tell it.”
This caught Luna by surprise, “you are going to be telling this story?” she hadn’t thought the small pony would want to share much about herself with anypony. The letter she sent seemed withdrawn, and more than a little self-conscious.
Bloom frowned, taking a moment to sort through her thoughts before speaking. When she spoke again it was much more subdued, and lacked her previous playfulness. “I already promised Rarity that I would answer any of her questions. I suspect that I’ll have to answer a good bit more before me and Bastion can simply live in peace.”
“You are likely right,” Luna said, her eyes lost in the stars above. “The question then is; are you going to explain your magic, and the magic that binds you and Bastion?”
This time it was Blooms turn to be surprised; none of her teachers at Axum could ever wholly explain how her magic worked. After years of no explanation she just assumed no one knew how it worked, so she began to tinker with it; looking for the limits of what she could and couldn’t do. It had taken years, but Bloom had come to understand enough about her own magic to get by. She was sure there was more to it, but she hadn’t stumbled across it yet. A bit hesitantly, not wanting to get her hopes up she asked, “do you know how my magic works?”
Luna gave her a knowing smile before going back to looking out the window at her night sky. “How old do you think I am Bloom?”
“I…” she paused, “I don’t know, maybe 1300 or so including the time spent on the moon.” Internally Bloom winced, not thinking before she had spoken. She wasn’t sure of Luna would want to talk about her time on the moon.
To her surprise though the princess began to laugh. It was a rougher sound than her sisters, but it also seemed more… it took Bloom a second to find the words to describe it; it felt, more mortal than Celestia’s. The few times she could remember meeting the older princess she seemed almost too perfect to be real. It made her a bit off-putting to talk to. As if she knows that she’s better than you are, but she doesn’t judge you for it because she knows it’s not your fault. Luna by comparison felt like an old friend. It had only taken a few minutes of talking with the younger princess to feel at ease enough to speak casually.
“Oh it is good to know I do not look a day over 1300.” She started laughing again, and this time Bloom joined in. Luna’s laugh was infectious that way. “In truth,” Luna said once she managed to get a hold of her giggles. “I am more around 2600 years old if we include my time spend on the moon. And over the years ponies like you are not that uncommon. In fact most earth ponies do a bit of what you do, just on a much smaller scale. Truth be told one of the more shocking things for me coming back, was just how much of the old ways have been lost or abandoned.” Luna continued to look out the window, and when she spoke next her voice took on the wistful air of remembrance. “Once upon a time, pegasi and earth ponies could use magic as readily as any unicorn. Not as varied as a unicorn to be sure, but magic none the less.”
There was a long pause before Bloom worked up the nerve to ask, “What happened?”
“I do not know. Perhaps with no more wars at our doorstep ponies moved away from the old ways. Perhaps ponies slowly just stopped learning and teaching them, and over a thousand years they all but vanished. Either way it is a true shame that they are gone now, the things earth ponies could once do with plants would take your breath away. Pegasi too once shaped clouds and storms with ease and grace rarely seen these days. I once knew a pegasus who slept in a storm cloud, and could summon lightning from a clear sky.”
“Could you show me some of this magic?” Bloom tried to keep the hope out of her voice, but it seemed to creep in nonetheless.
Luna nodded, and then glancing at Blooms covered eyes she said, “Yes, I know how most magic works. I could share a bit of what I know if you like.”
“Please do!” she wanted it to come out calm, yet intrigued. Bloom was fairly sure it came out more like a small filly begging for ice cream.
The lunar monarch was quiet for a long moment, her eyes betraying nothing of what was going on inside. When she spoke again there was a sense of seriousness in her tone. “If I am to tell you how your magic works, you must also understand more than you do about the magic of this world. I suppose starting from the beginning would be best then.” Her brow furrowed as she collected memories millenniums old, twisting them into something coherent. Bloom waited patiently for her to continue. “Few actually learn about their own magic these days,” she started. “It has become so common place that it seems only a rare few scholars bother to study how it all works and where it came from.” Her voice took on a slightly sad tone. “It always amazes me how much has been forgotten of times long past. There was a time when even the youngest foals knew where they came from, and the weight their names carried.”
Bloom was absolutely brimming with excitement at the thought of finally getting some answers. One thing nagged at her though, “what do you mean ‘the weight their names carried’?”
Luna smiled but shook her head. “All in good time little one, we have a long ways to go and this is a bit of a long story.” Settling into a more comfortable position she continued, “For now though let us start at the beginning of it all, or at least as far back as I can go.
“There are four realms that can be accessed for magic, including our own there is the Fey, the Nether, and the Void. Our own realm was once full of much more life and magic than it is today, but few can remember that time before the Nightmare Wars. After the wars ended there was little left of the world’s former glory, and only the ancient resilience of nature spirits still reflect those forgotten days. With so little magic left in the world, the immortals of the realm decided to work together as one for the first and last time in known history. Alicorns, Trolls, Sirens, Dragons, the Changeling Queens, and the Named all pooled their remaining strength to-“Luna looked up to see Bloom raising her hoof like a school filly. “Yes Bloom?”
“What are the ‘Named’?” she had never heard a mention of anything called the ‘Named’ in her life.
“They are powerful and ancient immortal beings. They are not a race in their own right because there is only one of them or they are an oddity amongst their race. The Changeling Queens are a bit of an oddity because changelings are a race, but there four queens are the only immortals amongst them.”
“I see,” Bloom said. Then she closed her mouth, and patiently waited for Luna to continue.
“As I was saying, they pooled their considerable power to craft an unfathomable spell. It formed an invisible, yet no less permanent link between our world and the three other realms. The Fey is likely the most important of these realms, as it is where most of the elemental spirits that help this world function are from. There are many other creatures in the Fey to be sure, but only the elementals are allowed to come and go between the realms as they like. It is incredibly difficult to cross from one realm to the other, and as far as I know the only other creatures in the Fey that can, are the Fairies.
“But I digress; the next realm bound to ours is the Nether. It is a place with an overabundance of raw magic, and it is the place where any creature with internal magic draws there supply from, myself included. Few can draw from the Nether consciously, that’s why most creatures like unicorns for example, only regain their magic with a good night sleep. And before you ask; yes I can draw magic from the Nether awake, and no I cannot even begin to understand how the spell binding it to this world works.” Bloom closed her mouth and settled back into the bench she was sitting on.
“The last realm bound to ours is the Void. I do not truly know why the Void was bound; its magic drives any creature that uses it mad. I have heard that some Nightmares can safely use the Voids magic, and even that there are a few interesting creatures in there. But considering how dangerous the Voids magic is, all research and study of it has been forbidden, even before my banishment. It is likely that only the Nightmares truly know what is in the Void, and why it was bound to our realm, but they have little love for most.”
“Isn’t everyone that originally bound the three realms to ours immortal?” Bloom asked.
“Yes.”
“So why has no one just asked them why it was done?” It seemed fairly straight forward to Bloom.
“If only it was that simple,” Luna said with a wistful sigh. “I could explain to you why, but you would have to understand complex spell matrix, advanced alchemy, and more about consciousness melding than I have time to tell you. You will just have to trust me when I say that there are probably one or two beings that know why the Void is here, and they are not talking.”
Bloom let out a defeated sigh, but didn’t argue. “Ok, so now that you have explained where magic comes from, not that it wasn’t interesting, but can you explain how mine works?”
“Patience little one,” Luna said, and Bloom didn’t need Bastions eyes to know the princess was enjoying drawing this out. “I will explain it all in good time, but you cannot simply skip parts.” Somehow Bloom doubted that all the information she was about to get would be relevant, still all she could do was shut up and let Luna explain in her own way. “First of all, do you know how magic is shaped?”
“How it’s shaped?” Bloom paused, “umm, with a horn or by the spirits?”
Luna gave that wry smile of hers. “Both of those are technically correct, but that is like saying the sea is wet. Yes it is true, but you are missing so much. You see there are three parts to magic, energy, ability, and supremacy. The first is straight forward as it gets, it is the power that a spell uses to perform whatever it is that you made it for.”
Bloom nodded.
“The second one is ability, and it is a little more complex. Your ability forms the spell, gives the raw energy focus and purpose. For races like unicorns this is extremely important, as your ability in a school of magic is the difference between casting a spell, and having it blow up in your face. At the same time races like zebras, and earth ponies like you care little for ability. Without a horn, or an equivalent, you cannot connect with the Nether. As such you do not have enough internal magic to cast your own spells.
“That brings us to our last point, supremacy. This is most important for you; it is pitting your will against that of the spirit you wish to do your bidding. If what you say is true, you have only ever asked the spirits for assistance so I doubt you know it, but you could force them to do your bidding.”
“I would never!” Bloom was aghast she would even suggest binding the spirits to her will.
“And it is best that you do not,” Luna said. “It is a shame that most shamans these days are taught to simply master supremacy, and force there will over the spirits. While I have no doubt it is much easier to simply control the spirits, one who is loved by them can perform the most amazing feats.”
Like headmaster Settoris, I could tell he was loved and respected by the wind spirits.
“So...” Bloom paused, “what’s the point of supremacy? Creatures that cast spells don’t use it, and those who can, shouldn’t.”
“An excellent question my dear, you see supremacy is simply the act of pitting your mind against another’s. There are few who still know mind control spells, so most do not practice strengthening their mind anymore. A few creatures outside of Equestriea are naturals at mind magic, Nightmares among them. You are right though, these days mastering ones supremacy is not of much importance.” She was silent for a bit, thinking. “I suppose the only true need for mastery would be in alchemy.”
“Alchemy?” Bloom had heard of alchemy at the university. Not much unfortunately, only that there was no class for alchemy. To learn it one had to go find an alchemist, and ask to become a disciple.
“Look I am no alchemist,” Luna said, “that would be Celly. All I know is that she would often comment on how much of a mental strain some of her potions were. Personally I never had the patience for the art.”
“But what even is alchemy?”
“Alchemy is the art of convincing reality that it is wrong.” Only the serious tone of her voice let Bloom know she wasn’t joking.
“What? And How? And… well… how?”
“Honestly. I have no idea how any of it works. The most I ever got from Celly was “because reasons”, before she would go back to whatever potion she was crafting at the time.” Luna shook her head. “To be honest, all I know for certain is I have never met a master alchemist who is all there , if you know what I mean.”
Bloom couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Are you saying princess Celestia is crazy?”
“Of course not,” Luna matched Blooms smile with one of her own. “I am simply implying, quite strongly, that there is the possibility of my sister sometimes acting in a way that may be viewed as, abnormal.” Her smile grew just a bit more, “perhaps that is just me being behind the times though.”
The two broke into another bout of laughter at Celestias expense. Luna recovered first, wiping a tear from her eye. “Oh, it is good to enjoy a laugh, tell me Bloom, do you know where I left off?”
“I believe you were explaining the function of supremacy,” Bloom said around fading giggles.
“Ah yes, now I remember. As I am sure Bastion will attest to, there is not much a spirit hates more than being forced to act against their will. That is where family names and bloodlines come into play. The deal the spirits came up with was simple. When they found a creature who acted beneficial or kindly towards the spirits, they were allowed to place their mark upon the creature’s soul. The mark was a symbol to any spirit that saw it, telling them that the creature in question had earned the loyalty of that spirit.”
“That still doesn’t explain why a bloodline matters, if all the spirits care about is what you do.”
“Your name is important though. The thought is that if your parents where loved by the spirits, they would pass on those values to their children. The children will not simply be given the same level of trust as their parents, but a strong bloodline can do wonders for the ease at which you earn that trust. Take Rainbow Dash for example. Do you know why she was the first in almost a millennium to perform a sonic rainboom?”
“Because she’s a prodigy and a genius in the air?” Bloom said. Even living half way across the continent, Bloom still heard about the Element of Loyalty. And it was no longer simple boasting when she said she was the best flyer in Equestria, and possibly the world.
“True, she is one of the most gifted pagasi I have ever met. But she is also from an extremely old and well respected blood line. I can trace her family all the way back to my lunar guard, nearly 1300 years ago. To say her name carry’s significant weight amongst the spirits would be an understatement. She has the spiritual leverage to put just about the entire royal guard to shame, of only she had the patience to slow down and listen.”
“Just about?” Bloom asked. “You just went on a whole little speech about how amazing she is, who’s better than her?”
“Prince Blueblood for one,” Bloom was about to interject, but Luna raised a hoof to stop her. “I know it may come as a surprise to you because of how he acts in public. In truth though, the Blueblood line has been members of Celestias honor guard for almost as long as Equestrias been around. And the current prince is not only a magical genius, but also hates politics with a passion. The compass rose cutie mark should give it away, but he is more of an explorer than a politician.” Luna paused, and when she spoke again there was more than a little venom in her voice. “That infuriating stallion is a damn good actor I will give him that. He plays the part of a stuck up prince perfectly, and does his best to make everyponys life a living hell. His hope is that if no pony wants him around, we will let him go off exploring to his heart’s content.” The lunar princess had slipped into a full on tangent now, and was simply venting her frustration. “As if he can just go tromping around the world while we are stuck running a country! But two can play at that game; I put him in charge of all royal parties. That way he has to suffer through long and boring small talk, while the stuck up nobles have to suffer through his presence.” She was grinning now, with just the slightest edge of sadistic joy deep within. “The poor colt is two thousand years too early to try and play me , I wrote the book on this game.”
Bloom cleared her throat.
“Ah, yes in any case one should not take how Blueblood acts around others for how he truly is.” Her dark coat made it hard to tell, but Bloom could have sworn she was blushing. “He is an explorer, a philosopher, and a gifted magician. As well as quite fun to be around when he is not trying to make you hate him.”
“Wait, back up a second, Bluebloods a unicorn, why does his bloodline matter at all?”
“It does and it does not, let me explain. A bloodline will not simply vanish like a family name might; it is a part of you that never truly leaves. At the same time if you forget where it is that you came from, if you forget your history your bloodline might as well be gone. One cannot learn from a forgotten past. That is why such things are important to races that interact with the spirits. Rainbow Dash may not be into history, but I guarantee you she can name her ancestors and their deeds.
“Unicorns on the other hoof do not need to remember where they came from. Some bloodlines are simply more pure than others, and as such are bound closer to the Nether. On occasion there are unicorns born who are abnormally close to the Nether, and can do things others simply cannot. It is possible for such unicorns to be born to a less pure bloodline, but such things are rare.” Luna smiled at that.
“So, what does Blueblood do that makes him so special?”
“His telekinesis.”
This took Bloom by surprise. “Cant every unicorn do that? I thought it was just a thing they were born with.”
“True, every unicorn can use telekinesis, but Bluebloods is a little special. Every other unicorn uses telekinesis by pulling from their internal magic to manipulate an object. Even Twilight had a bit of trouble when she tossed that ursa minor into the forest. Blueblood though draws the power for his telekinesis directly from the Nether. So long as his body can handle the magic he is forcing through his horn, he can lift it. It is not a stretch to think he could probably rip Canterlot castle off the side of its mountain if he really wanted to.”
Bloom just sat there, open mouthed. Luna grinned at her before adding, “For the record, I could put it back with just as much ease.”
Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, Bloom collected her thoughts before speaking. “I feel like we have gotten off track following interesting trains of thought. Still though I’m in the dark on a bit of how my magic actually works.”
“Well how about this, sense we have already gone through about all of the basics relevant to nature magic. How about you ask me questions about what you are still confused on. And I will do my best to answer them. Sound good?”
Bloom didn’t even have to think about it, it wasn’t like she could have asked for a better deal. The chance to ask and immortal princess about magic was something out of a dream. “I love that idea. Hmm, where to begin.”
Do you have any ideas on where we should start?
Perhaps we should ask about doing magic other than nature magic. She might know if it’s even possible, and if it is what the safest way to go about it would be.
Sounds good to me. “Luna, me and Bastion were talking before about the idea of using raw magic from nature spirits as a substitute for internal magic, so I could cast spells like a unicorn. Do you think it would work?”
Luna was quiet for a long while after that question. Bloom noticed she wasn’t the type to ‘umm’ or ‘ah’ as she thought. She didn’t need to hear her own voice so badly that she would fill the air with empty noise. Instead the princess was quite comfortable simply sitting in complete silence as she thought. Only choosing to speak when her thoughts on a matter were fully formed and ready to be presented. As such there were no stalls in her speech as she looked for the correct word. Bloom realized she liked the way Luna spoke, and decided then and there she would work on her own speech to someday speak with Luna’s grace.
“Speaking purely theoretically,” Luna said, breaking Bloom from her internal thoughts. “I can see it being done. Being bound to a nature spirit as you are it would be possible to attempt unicorn magic, if you were so inclined. Using yourself as a conduit, and Bastion as a horn to shape and direct the magic you could in theory do such a thing. What you must remember is that spirits are only experts at shaping and controlling their own magic. And any horn you two could come up with would be nowhere near as effective as a true horn. On top of that neither of you have any training in the arcane arts, formal or otherwise. In short what I am trying to say is never try this yourselves, this is a thought experiment and nothing more. Arcane magic is notorious for being hard to control and easily messed up. If you tried to cast a simple telekinesis spell for example and screwed it up, you could rip your own heart out instead of lifting off a necklace. Do you understand?” Luna’s tone made it clear there was no room for negotiation on this matter.
“Yes ma’am.” Bloom said immediately.
Seems that idea won’t be something in our bag of tricks.
That’s fine; our bag is brimming with tricks compared to a normal earth pony. Then a thought
occurred to her, do you know why there aren’t more earth ponies that can do what I can? It wasn’t easy to learn how to cast spells and talk to spirits, but it wasn’t that hard.
Why are you asking me? Luna is the immortal princess with all the answers.
Bloom would have rolled her eyes if she still had them. “Luna, do you know if there are more earth ponies who can talk to the spirits and use nature magic like me. And if there are why have I never heard of them?”
“First of all earth ponies do not just seem to be better with plants than other races, they are better, and that is because of the spirits bond. Few know it, as it is not something most look into, but have you ever wondered why you sister and brother could clear every apple off a tree with a single buck? Trust me it was not because they just hit the tree so hard the apples fell off, it was because of their connection to the spirits. In fact I would be willing to bet if they stopped and listened for a bit, they could have simply walked around asking the apples to fall. And as for why you have not heard about earth ponies preforming magic like you , it is because none do. Only a few members of the royal guard and a few of the older earth pony families still practice nature magic. And none practice as you do because it is a relic of a bygone age.”
Bloom furrowed her brow. “What do you mean by that?”
“Tell me Bloom, when was the last time Equestria was at war?”
“It’s been...” Bloom paused once she realized she didn’t actually know when the last war was.
“931 years.” Luna said with a proud smile. “My sister has kept Equestria safe and out of war for 931 years. The last time somepony made a nature elemental was almost 920 years ago. Does it make sense now?”
“What about the guards?”
Luna’s smile shifted from proud to knowing, “I think you would be impressed if you knew what some of my and Celestias honor guards can pull off. Still I am slightly embarrassed to say most of my honor guard would probably lose to you in your orchard.”
Bloom raised an eyebrow over the threadbare ribbon covering her eyes. “Your honor guard is that weak?”
Luna let out a humorless laugh, “it seems you do not remember your home that well. The way I remember it was something like rows and rows of ancient apple trees stretching on for acres and acres. You may not give yourself enough credit, but you drew enough magic from the scattered patches of nature around your university to make an elemental. I dare say sitting in the middle of your orchard, the number of mortals who could match your magic does not even break the double digits.”
Bloom wanted to argue, but in truth she had never been anywhere with more than a dozen fully grown trees sense she learned to listen. She couldn’t begin to fathom how it would be to come home and feel her family’s orchard, no, her orchard welcoming her. Thinking of her orchard brought on another question, “you said you could trace Rainbows family line. Could you trace mine?”
Luna gave a warm smile, “I could, but I think it would mean more if you looked them up yourself. Come by the castle some time and I will show you the royal archives. Do you have any more questions?”
Bloom yawned and shook her head. “None right now, if I think of some in the morning can I ask you?”
“Of course you can, but I have a question of my own I would like to get answered if you do not mind.”
Bloom shrugged, “shoot.”
Instead of asking a question, Luna lit up her horn and the shadows in the train car began swirling towards a point in front of the princess. After a few moments the shadows formed a sphere about the size of Blooms head. Then, like water from a popped balloon, the shadows fell away revealing a polished wooden box. The box was clearly of high quality, though it was left plain without carvings or paint. Still the simple box had Bloom shaking as if it contained a monster, which it might as well have for how badly the little pony was sweating.
“D-do you think it will really accept me?” She stammered, now that it was really here, Bloom wasn’t so sure she was as good as her sister once was. Applejack had always been so honest, not to mention kind and hard working. When their parents had died, Applejack had stepped up to not only run the farm, but also take care of her brother and sister. All Bloom could think of now was how she had run away, how she had left everything behind to try and forget. Suddenly the necklace in Luna’s magic looked extremely heavy, and Bloom wasn’t sure she could ware it. Her sister made it look easy, but she was sure the golden necklace would weigh a ton holding all her regret.
“One way to find out,” Luna said. And with that she lifted the necklace, placing it around Blooms throat without ceremony.
Bloom tensed as the necklace wrapped around her neck, sure that it would see how inferior she was to her sister, and burn her for her cowardice. When Luna released her magical grasp, Bloom mistook the necklace for a warm hug. Her sister’s hugs she remembered, not only that though, it came with sunshine and crisp apples, Fresh baked pies, and laughter. It took her a few moments to realize what all this was, and when it hit her she would have cried if her eyes still could. For the first time in years Bloom felt loved, and safe, she felt like she was home again.
“Seems it chose you after al-“ Luna was cut short by a small earth pony tackling her in a hug.
“Thank you Luna, thank you thank you thank you.” Bloom only stopped thanking Luna when she was overtaken by a long yawn.
The princess smiled and wrapped the little pony in her wing. “You are quite welcome, now go to sleep, you have had a long day and we can talk more tomorrow.”
Bloom wanted to argue, but with the Element of Honesty around her neck, and Luna’s surprisingly soft wing wrapped around her body, she quickly ran out of fight. With another yawn of defeat, she found a comfortable spot leaning against the princesses’ warm coat, and surrendered to Luna’s realm.
Bloom woke to a type of comfort usually reserved for a warm bed on a snowy day, or heavy medication. The Element of Honesty thrummed softly at her throat, its gentle pulsing magic a welcome reminder of its presence. While Luna’s dark wing blocked out the demon rays of the morning sun. Not that it mattered much to Bloom, still it was the thought that counts. Surprisingly the small earth pony also found herself under an impossibly soft blanket, its consistency too light too be cloth, and too flexible to be a wing. Thinking back Bloom vaguely remembered grasping for a blanket sometime during the night. Must be Luna’s starry tail, she mused. It seems the night princesses tail was actually much longer and softer than most gave it credit for, making it a marvelous impromptu blanket. It would be a few minutes yet before Blooms sleep addled mind would come to fully realize just where she was, and what she was doing. Until then however, the warmth of her borrowed blanket and the scent of fresh pancakes with fruit would continue to fight for her attention. One promised unmatched comfort, the other a delightful breakfast.
“I know you are awake Bloom, care to join me in the waking world for some breakfast?” Luna’s voice never seemed to shatter a silence like most do. Instead it flowed in and out, making one second guess if she had spoken at all, or if they simply imagined the whole thing.
“I don’t know, my schedules booked solid through this afternoon. I’m absolutely swamped you see, even if you are a princess I’m going to be hard pressed to fit you in.”
“I see” Luna’s voice was all business as a smile spread over her lips. “And what, might I ask is it that has you so strapped for time?”
“Tail inspection” Bloom said around a yawn. “Got some rather disturbing reports that your tail loses its softness during the day. Needless to say I must confirm whether or not this is true, and if it is how best to solve such a problem.” Letting out another yawn the small pony curled back up in Luna’s tail.
With a wolfish grin Luna slowly started to pull her tail away from Bloom, who absentmindedly grabbed at it. Her hoof however, and the small amount of telekinesis all ponies have in there hooves, slipped right through the star filled tail made blanket. Trying again was met with the same result. Again and again she tried, even attempting to bite the evil tail, but nothing worked. “Noooooooo!” she cried as she chased after her impossibly soft blanket. “Give it back you cheater, that’s not fair. I stole it from you it’s mine, you can’t steal it back!”
Luna found it hard to listen however as she was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe. Only stopping when she was tackled by a small earth pony, snuggling against her mane. “If I let you use my mane will you join me for breakfast?”
“Only if I can keep it all the way to Ponyville.”
“How is that fair?”
“You cheated.”
“In a game without rules?”
“Still cheated.” Blooms grip on Luna made it clear she wasn’t backing down.
“Fine.” With a smile at the little pony’s victorious grin, Luna wrapped Bloom inside her starry mane and placed her back on the seat. “Now let us eat.”
Turning her bracelets back on, Bloom noticed just how much food was sitting before her. Pancakes stacked and steaming, surrounded by artfully crafted fruits shaped like woodland creatures. Looking through Bastions eyes revealed that no expense had been spared on presentation. “Is this what it’s like being a princess? Everypony going out of their way to make sure even your food is dressed to the nines.”
“This is mostly Celestia’s fault, she is well known for her love of high quality food. Most simply assume a have my sisters tastes.” Shrugging Luna started on her breakfast.
“So you aren’t into all this unnecessary fluff?” The pancakes were delicious, light, and fluffy with rich syrup, the fruit tasted too fresh you would have thought they’d been plucked right from the fields.
Finishing off her first pancake Luna wiped some syrup from her muzzle before answering. It wasn’t the dainty little taps Bloom had come to expect from anyone in Canterlot, but the princess lost none of her grace to the motion. “I am from a simpler time I suppose. We had less flash in our meals then. Even still my chef always made my food to be eaten, not shown in an art gallery.”
“I see.”
The two enjoyed the rest of their meal in a comfortable silence. Once they finished one of the trains staff came to take there dishes away, leaving a pot of tea in its place. The poor mare looked scared half to death when Bastion turned to look at her. To her credit though she didn’t bolt, and the plates only shook a little when she took them.
With the food gone, and the morning sun streaming through the window Luna got a good look a Bloom for the first time. She hadn’t noticed before in the dying sunlight when she plucked the filly from jail, but her coat seemed less vibrant than it once was. “Has your coat always been that color?” Bloom turned her head towards Luna very slowly. With her free hoof she gently pushed the red bow off to reveal the scarred remains where her eyes use to be. “Oh, right sorry.” Still the filly’s washed out color worried Luna.
The awkward silence as Bloom replaced her bow weighed down in the train car like a wet blanket. Snuggling deeper into Luna’s mane, Bloom worked up the courage to ask something she had wondered sense she was a crusader. “Luna, can I ask you a question that has nothing to do with magic?”
“You can always ask, the question is if I will answer.”
“How did you get your cutie mark?” She and the other crusaders had asked Twilight years ago, and much to the scholars chagrin she had to admit she didn’t know. Even after Twilight had sent a letter to the princess, the response she got was: ‘It’s an old story that is difficult to tell. One simply had to be there to understand.’
“That,” Luna said distractedly “has more to do with magic than you know.” Her forehead knitted up in concentration, as if the words she wanted were just out of reach. After a minute of her opening and closing her mouth as she struggled to find the right words, Luna gave up. Shaking her head in dismay “I am sorry Bloom, I cannot tell you such a thing.”
“Oh,” Bloom said, struggling to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “That’s ok Luna you don’t have to talk about it. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
For what felt like the millionth time Luna caught her off guard with a sudden bout of laughter. “You misunderstand me little one, I cannot simply tell you because words are an insufficient medium for such things. There are some things you simply must be there for you to fully understand.”
Blooms ears perked at this. After all what could her cutie marks story be if words weren’t good enough to tell it? “Before I was just curious, but now I have to know how you got your cutie mark.”
“Well…”
“Yes?”
“I suppose if you truly want to know,” Luna said slowly. She was clearly enjoying dragging this out as long as possible. “I could be convinced to show you my memories of that time. I am the princess of dreams after all.”
Blooms deadpan look just hadn’t been the same sense she lost her eyes. Still she gave Luna her best look. “What do you want Luna?” She asked in a flat voice.
To her surprise Luna’s eyes softened until they were almost motherly. “Please do not go looking for Fluttershy or Twilight Sparkle.” Bloom was about to deny everything, but Luna quickly rushed on before she could. “Save your breath little one, I have seen your dreams and I know how you feel about those two. I also know that as much as you dislike, them you do not want them dead. What happens if those two set you off like fire?”
Bloom opened her mouth to protest, and then closed it when no argument came. She knew the princess was right. “They got them all killed,” she whispered weakly, but even she didn’t believe that anymore. The years away had cooled her anger, and given her time to think clearly about it all. Most days it was hard to even find that old rage. Only embers of dislike still burned, and even those were fading. “I don’t know what to do Luna,” she admitted soberly. “This,” she motioned at Bastion and herself making her bracelets rattle. “All this that I’ve been through and done, was it all for nothing?” Bloom was glad for her broken voice now, as it masked the subtle cracking of her words.
“What would your sister say?”
A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, as her hoof touched the necklace she still wore. “She would say ‘the Apple family is above such petty grudges.’” Bloom let her old southern drawl slip back in as she spoke. So long away from home had changed her accent to something more akin to Zecora’s than her own families. “She’d say it was an accident and I should forgive them for their mistake.”
“Can you?”
“No.” the certainty in Blooms voice left no room for argument. “With work I may be able to be in the same room as them without violence. Maybe even in time we could have a conversation, but I’m not as strong as my sister. I’m not a big enough pony to ever truly forgive them.”
“That is more than I thought I would get,” Luna said with a smile. “I cannot rightly ask for more now can I?” As Luna lit up her horn, all the shadows in the train car seemed to grow a little darker. “To understand how Celestia and I got the sun and moon respectively you will need a little backstory. So I will be showing you that entire day.” At this point the lights of the car looked more like the pinpricks of stars. The shadows seemed deep and full of unseen things, like the depths of a well. Soon Bastions vision was as dark as Blooms own. Luna’s voice seemed to come from a long ways away, or was it a long time away? It was becoming hard to tell. “Enjoy the ride little one.”
“Luna!”
I know that damned voice, with its tones like silver bells, and pitch perfect at all times. It drags a groan from my tired lips. She’s going to come bursting in here and- Bang! The sound of my heavy wooden door hitting the stone wall is cringe worthy. I know it’s coming, there can’t be more than seconds left. In a last ditch attempt to avoid my fate I pull my pillow over my head and don’t breath. If I can’t see her she doesn’t exist.
Like all bad plans this one fell apart as soon as it was needed. There is one bone chilling second of silence, just long enough for me to think ‘well maybe’. Then my blankets and pillow are violently ripped from their home atop me. I find myself glaring at a snow white face framed by a light blue and purple mane. Her aurora mane is done up to the nines, not a hair out of place. It’s beautiful yes, but too much work for my tastes. “Sister,” I hiss through clenched teeth, “can I help you?”
“You can help me by getting up and making yourself presentable. Snow is waiting for us at the meeting, we are supposed to watch.” Her fake grin looks more natural than mine. I can see myself in the mirror behind Celestia, and my smile is pushing manic. I should probably stop smiling now, I’m even starting to creep myself out. Still I don’t stop until Celly turns around, preparing to teleport away. I know it eats at her. “I’ll see you there then” she says, firing up her horn. I could get up, comb my mane and tail, and then go after her. But teleports are a lot of work, and I’m sure I look fine as is.
With that in mind I light up my own horn, reaching out with my magic to touch Cellys. Subtly I tweak her spell just a bit so it takes me as well. Somepony better would have noticed my tampering with their spell. But Celly, for all her power, has never been good with the softer side of magic. As her spell pulls us both into the void of a teleport, I can’t help but wonder what face she will show me upon arrival. She has never been a fan of my interventions in her spells, no matter how small. Oh well, what’s done is done.
As it turns out, Cellys face becomes a cross between rage and accepting exasperation when her spell has a hitchhiker. Poor Celestia kept opening her mouth as if to scold me for my actions, only to close it a second later. Finally she settled on a simple, “really Luna?”
“Love you too Celly,” I say as I make my way past her and up the path. We are standing in a densely wooded area, but the massive flow of power gives a pretty clear indication of where to go. A short walk through the underbrush opens up to a rocky outcrop overlooking a canyon. The pure white form of Auntie Snow was already there, looking over the ledge into the canyon.
“About time you two got here, the alicorns taking part arrived a while ago. The rest should be here soon.” Snows voice doesn’t ever shatter a silence like most do. Instead it flows in and out, making one second guess if she even spoke at all, or if they simply imagined the whole thing. It’s one of the things I admire about her so much. That and the graceful way she walks, and how her laugh is infectious, and how she never talks down to others and the subtle beauty in her magic, and… and now I’m staring. How long have I been doing that? Did she ask me something? Did I not answer? The sound of Celly complaining about my morning antics brings the rising panic down to a more manageable level. My sudden daydream about the qualities of Snow I wish I had seems to have gone unnoticed.
“-just can’t believe she had the nerve to hijack my teleport like that.” The annoyed edge in her voice is followed with a short glare in my direction.
“Please, I was less of a hijacker and more of a stowaway.” The glare doesn’t soften, but I can see the corners of her mouth twitch upwards ever so slightly. I offer an innocent grin of my own, which won’t help the situation any but is still fun to do.
“Luna! You should know better than to manipulate others spells, it’s extremely rude.” Her scolding loses its impact with the proud smile she’s currently fighting down. Celestia for her part just rolls her eyes, clearly knowing this will go nowhere.
Acting as natural as possible I take my seat to Snows left and look down into the canyon, a decision I immediately regret. I have to bite my lip to keep from yelping at the sight of nightmares flowing into the meeting area below. Their bodies move like blood wrapped in shadows, while graceful and fluid, there’s nothing solid in their step. Their dozen eyes moving freely around their shadowy forms, taking in every detail of where they stand. My cyan eyes lock with a single pail white one for only a second, but that’s more than enough time to make my blood chill. Quickly I avert my gaze, but even though I’m no longer staring into emotionless eyes, I can feel them still watching me.
“Best to avoid their eyes when possible, it’s a rather unsettling experience.” Snows voice comes softly from beside me. A gentle reminder that I’m not actually down there with those creatures, I’m up here and I’m safe. Safer. “By the way Luna, did you even look in a mirror today?”
I know she’s talking about my deep blue mane, and I know it must be a sight to behold about now. I keep my mane shorter than my sisters to cut down on the amount of work I have to do every morning. Sadly it’s also thicker than hers, and its slight curls love to find their way into a beautiful mess every night. “There aren’t any lights in my room for a reason, I look better in the dark.”
This earned me a sympathetic chuckle from my aunt. “Would you like me to fix your mane dear?” Unlike Celestia, Snows mane also liked to explore new and interesting knots every night. So with my defeated nod, she began idly loosening the knots with her magic as we waited for everyone to arrive.
“Who is that?” Cellys question catches the both of us off guard after the long minutes of silence. Fallowing her gaze farther down the canyons winding path reveals a small figure walking up the long dried riverbed. It takes a bit of magic to sharpen his image into that of a tall gray wolf. It walked upon only two legs. Its forepaws reminiscent of a dragons, ending in a clawed hand. The wolf wore a spotless white suit, and held a cane of bleached white bone. Even from this distance I can tell it’s an Atharie, what those gem hunting dogs use to be before they went half mad and all but feral. A proud race, but not all that magical if memory serves. The thing that stands out about this Atharie though is its shadow. It stands straighter with broader shoulders than the wolf it seems to belong to. It also seems to walk with more ridged steps somehow. The Atharie on the other hoof has a lazy swagger about him, as if he simply can’t be bothered to give any real effort in his stride.
“Odd,” I murmur to myself.
“That he is,” Snow agrees. “Dangerous to, so I would advise running if you are ever unfortunate enough to meet him again.”
“Don’t Atharie have only a bit of magic though? What makes him special?” no matter how hard I look, if you take away the odd shadow he is just another wolf.
Snows voice drops to just above a whisper as she glares at the wolf. “That monster is Vemndack Sletckusk, a necromancer. Despite how he may look that thing isn’t an Atharie, at least not anymore. He’s been twisting and replacing his insides for years to acquire more magic. He may look fine on the outside, but his skin just hides the abomination on the inside.” At this Vemndack stopped walking and turned to look Snow dead in the eyes. He wore a huge grin, and gave her a deep bow before continuing on his way to the meeting.
“You know him?” Celly asks with a bit of shock in her voice.
“I’ve tried to kill him a half dozen times.”
I let out a low whistle, if Snow couldn’t kill him he must be quite something. It’s pretty much universally agreed that Snow’s a genius, the only reason she isn’t currently taking part is due to her age. “He’s really that good is he?”
“Let me put it this way, he’s been a necromancer for over a millennium and no one’s killed him yet. Or if they have he hasn’t stayed dead long.” The disgust in her voice only seems to grow the longer she talks about Vemndack. No, not disgust, annoyance.
Looking back at the wolf he doesn’t seem so small anymore. Lounging on a rock as he talks to a couple of Nightmares he looks completely in his element. He must have sensed my eyes on him because he looks up to meet my gaze. The look in his eyes says he’s been aware of my staring this whole time. With a smile and a nod he returns to his conversation. “Is he evil?” my voice sounds small, even shaken. Is that fear in my voice, I hadn’t even noticed how scared I am. Those eyes though…
Snows frown reveals just how conflicted she is on this. “I don’t know if I’m honest. He is a necromancer and not a friend of our nation to be sure. But still I don’t believe him to be evil. After all every time we have met I have undoubtedly lost, still he hasn’t killed me yet.” Her frown deepens farther. “The simple fact that he’s a necromancer is why he is hated by most. Other than that though he isn’t even part of this war, never has been. It’s a bit surprising he’s here at all to be honest.”
“Wait, back up a second.” By now Cellys face is a mirror of Snows scowl as she tries to understand. “If he’s not evil, nor a part of this war, why exactly have you been fighting with him?”
I want to hear the answer to this as well. I can’t see much point in angering a clearly powerful necromancer for no reason.
“I can’t just let a known necromancer waltz through our lands; I’m supposed to be protecting this place after all.”
“Still you said you met him more than once,” Celly pressed.
“He would often walk through our lands to visit K’shyia the spider queen. I would try to kill him whenever I could spare the time. Though I feel it was more a game to him than a true fight.” The disgust in her words had long sense changed to bitter annoyance with the old necromancer.
What’s more surprising though is that Vemndack seems to be on friendly terms with K’shyia the spider queen. Living to the east of her we’ve always had the same relationship with K’shyia that the rest of the world has. Don’t start problems for her, and she’ll leave your nation in one peace. In all honesty I don’t truly know what makes the spider queen so frightening, nopony ever talks about it. From what I have heard most have never seen her actually fight, the few who have only said don’t anger her. It must be quite something though if there isn’t a nation in the world openly hostile towards her.
A whispered ‘whoa’ from Celestia pulls my eyes away from the frightening wolf. Her eyes aren’t down on the canyon though; they’re up to the sky. It doesn’t take me nearly as long to find what’s caught her eye this time. The dragon currently flying our way couldn’t be described as anything other than massive. The green of his scales glitter like dark forest emeralds in the rising sun. As he (clearly male) comes closer, the massive leathery wings block out the sun with every flap. Thankfully he had the forethought to land a ways up the dry riverbed, still even with his wings folded to his sides the dragon hardly fit inside the canyon walls. The rumbling of his steps nearly drowns out my voice as I ask what Celestia and I are both thinking. “Who is that?”
“Iaitethoniss Rynserrayraka Vesrisengsam Enburrisrak.”
The choked approximation of language Snow produced must have been the dragon’s name. “Care to run that one by me again?” I’m half convinced she choked right at the start of speaking and just went with it.
“That’s his name, or at least an attempt at it. Dragons have interesting vocal cords, so their language has many sounds other creatures can’t imitate. That was the closest I can get to his name, and still it’s a butchery of his language. I tend to simply call him Elder Ryn, because a dragon’s second name is the most important. Also because that’s about as far as I can get into it before the butchery begins. Anyways all you have to know about him is he’s the current Great Elder of the dragons.”
As Elder Ryn came closer it became clear he wasn’t alone. It had been hard to notice them because none of the other two dozen or so dragons was any bigger than your average alicorn. “Can dragons shape shift,” Celly asks eyeing the smaller dragons.
“Only Envy and Pride dragons can naturally shape shift. Most dragons of about a century or more can shape shift though, would be a bit of a pain to move around if they couldn’t.”
“Why is Elder Ryn that large then? Isn’t he the oldest living dragon?”
“First of all he isn’t exactly the oldest” Snow said with a smile. “One doesn’t become the Great Elder by simply being the oldest. In fact, the oldest dragon is actually standing beside Ryn. She’s the pale yellow dragon with white spikes. She doesn’t lead because her vice is Wrath, which is generally bad for a leader. As for why he doesn’t change is size, well he’s a Sloth dragon. He quite simply can’t be bothered to do it.”
“So what’s the Wrath dragon’s name?” I’ll admit I mostly want to see Snow butcher another dragon’s name.
“I don’t know,” Snow says softly. “She is so old I would wager there are only a half dozen beings in the world who know her name. She goes by Sunny currently; it’s a bit of a joke considering her vice. She never uses her real name though, and if she’s chosen to stop using it I’m sure there’s a good reason.”
“Who are the two in the back that everyone seems to be concerned about,” Celly asks.
Snow takes a second to scan the crowd of dragons, but once she finds the ones Celestias mentioned her face goes from curious to horrified. “Gods above, they brought those two?” her voice is shaking a bit, and she moves herself ever so slightly to stand farther between the dragons and us. “Those two are Gluttony dragons, ancient ones.”
“Well of course their ancient,” Celly says, “their part of the meeting after all.”
“You don’t understand. Those two are Gluttony dragons. Those two are the closest things to true monsters you’ll ever have the misfortune to see.”
I’m having trouble seeing Snows fear of the two dragons. They both stand proudly next to their brothers and sisters. One with brilliant white scales like diamonds, and sapphire eyes. The other has ruby red scales and eyes to match that seem to burn from the inside. Both carrying themselves with the confidence of lords. “You’re going to have to explain that one a bit more,” I say drily. “I don’t understand what’s do bad about a dragon who eats a bit more than most.”
Snow shoots me a quick glare before returning her attention to the two dragons. “Gluttony is the hardest of the seven vices to control,” she begins after a moment. “Young Gluttony dragons are essentially feral and eat anything they come across, even other dragons. But every dragon gets something from there vice you see. Greed dragons can grow to massive sizes extremely quickly, Pride dragons are master shape shifters, and Sloth dragons’ regeneration rivals that of even hydras. Gluttony dragons on the other hoof are true monsters.” Snow let out a small shutter. “Those things steal attributes of the creatures they eat and assimilate it into their own form. The fact that those two look like normal dragons now is likely because they’ve eaten something that shape shifts. Like a Changeling or a Pride dragon, and not just one. They’ve likely eaten a good number of them to be able to shape shift that well.”
“But wouldn’t they only have to change a little bit of themselves to blend in,” Celestia asks. “After all they are still dragons.”
Snow shook her head. “Gluttony dragons take something from every living thing they eat and make it a part of themselves. Those two are over a thousand years old, with a thousand years of changes made to their bodies. Under all that magic are abominations that look nothing like the dragons they once were.”
Looking back down at the two dragons they don’t look so harmless anymore. They still held that regal air about them, but the way their eyes track the movement of every other creature in the canyon’s reminiscent of a predator. As if the two dragons are looking over a selection of cakes at a bakery. “What are their names?” I ask in a soft voice.
“I don’t know,” Snow admitted. “If they have names at all no one’s talking about it. There aren’t a lot of Gluttony dragons alive, and only those two are that old, so we’ve always referred to them as the elder monsters.”
We all got quiet after that, nopony really wanting to talk about the two insane dragons that would be joining the spell. Even when strange creatures arrive in long blood red cloaks there isn’t the old interest. Half of me is still thinking about the monstrous dragons sitting no more than two hundred yards away. Snow explains that the newcomers are Trolls, violent creatures with a love for war and the glory of the hunt. Honorable, yet they have little patience for the weak. It sounds like Snows explaining this more to have something to do than for our benefit. I don’t stop her though, in truth her talking is helping to keep my nerves under control. I’ve been getting more and more nervous as more creatures arrive, and at this point it’s all I can do to not start shaking.
By the time the siren queen arrived, following a few more Named Snow knew nothing about; I was shaking like a leaf. According to Snow it’s all the ambient magic in the air, my own magic wasn’t enough to hold it at bay. The result being uncontrollable shaking as if I was petrified by fear. Even with Snow trying to hold it back with her own magic, there was little she could do once the siren queen Ves'que arrived. She doesn’t leave the covered litter she arrived in, according to Snow if she were to step out it would only cause problems. After all sirens are known for their irresistible nature, no one lives by the seas because all but the strongest willed creatures would drown themselves chasing a siren. The queen is an order of magnitude worse than a normal siren, so leaving that litter would cause nothing but problems here.
Normally I would be extremely interested in queen Ves'que and her sirens, but sadly at the moment its taking all I have to not curl up in a ball and cry. The overwhelming pressure coming from the canyon is suffocating, so much so that I have to focus just to inhale and exhale. Just as I’m beginning to seriously consider teleporting somewhere far away from here it all disappears. The pressure is gone completely as if it never existed in the first place. My first thought is Snow, but she looks as relieved as I do. Scanning the assembled crowd it isn’t hard to find out just who’s responsible, after all everyone in attendance is giving the three respectful nods as they pass.
The spider queen K'shyia is easy enough to pick out but the two changelings with her confuse me. One has a long straight white mane and tail, looking like she would rather be anywhere else right now. The other was a pink mane and tail full of poufy curls that looked like it would eat a comb. The shocking thing was that she sat atop the large spider queen chatting animatedly.
“Who is the pink one sitting on the spider queen?” Celestia sounded as shocked as I felt. At first I was sure that the queen K'shyia had been the one to block all the magic coming from the canyon. Now though seeing a pink changeling stretch out on the spider queen like a bed I’m not so sure.
“That one goes by many names, most of which she makes up when asked. Not much is known about that pink one, what I do know is that she doesn’t have a hive like her sisters. Whether she once did is unknown, if she did though it’s been gone for thousands of years by now.” Snow spoke with respect when talking about the pink changeling. She even gave a slight bow as the three passed below us, though weather it was meant for K’shyia I couldn’t tell. “As for her reputation,” Snow continued after the group passed. “She is without a doubt one of the oldest beings here. Possibly older than even queen K'shyia, though both are so old there aren’t records of a time before them.”
“How come I’ve never heard anything about her,” I ask. Surely something so old and powerful should be better documented throughout history, but I have never seen any mention of this pink changeling.
Snow shrugged, “probably because she doesn’t do much herself. She has her hooves in quite a bit around the world, but nothing directly linked to her. Things just seem to always work out the way she says they will, but she never actually does anything, at least not publicly.” Snow shook her head, “that one’s impossible it link to anything, she doesn’t even own a home as far as I know. Still her influence is undeniable.”
Snow looked like she was about to say more, but was cut short as the pink changelings voice boomed through the canyon. “Looks like everyone is here, so let’s begin.” With that she lit up her horn giving the entire canyon a pink glow. Surprisingly no one said anything about being ordered around buy this little changeling, they just followed her into the consciousness melding spell.
For long minutes nothing happened, the entire assembly of ancients, as well as all of the watchers like us just sat in silence. It was eerie how quiet it remained for nearly an hour, hope slowly fading with ever agonizing minute. Looking to my left Celly looked like she was about to cry. Snow to my right was a mask of indifference, though it was beginning to crack showing signs of defeat. Everyone here knew this is our last shot, and it’s starting to look like we missed.
Then it happened, the sky shifted in an instant from its bright blue to a dark purple filled with six moons. I can’t do anything but sit open mouthed as the left half of the horizon fades into a crimson sky with a blindingly bright blue sun. Movement below me drags my sight back down to the canyon floor and the five elementals standing in a circle. The small logical part of my mind reminds me that our own world still has one living elemental lord, nature. That was probably the dear made of vines and leaves, long twisting horns made of wood wrapped in flowing flowers. Our nature stood dwarfed by the other elemental lords, a serpent made of clouds, I giant of molten rock and fire, an octopus of water and ice, and what looked like a goat made of stone with diamonds for eyes. Still the four gave silent nods of respect to nature before leaving as suddenly as they had come. Nature stood a while longer before leaving as well.
So many questions I wish to ask, where did those lords come from, where did they go? Were they resurrected or did they come from somewhere else, if so where? And what happened to the sky? Sadly now is not the time for questions, even if it was, the only ones with answers are currently busy doing gods only knows what. Looking back up to the sky I notice it’s changed again. The blue sun no longer burns with its previous painful intensity, the six moons seem to have stolen the lost light though as they shine more brightly. Looking behind me I can’t help but notice our own red sun has become an odd yellow thing, brighter to be sure but lacking its old beauty. There is little time to marvel at the sight however as the four moons of our home are moving together at an unnerving speed. It’s almost as if, no way…
The splitting pain in my head forces me to the ground in shock. I can’t move, can’t think, and can hardly draw ragged breaths through my pained throat. I think someone’s screaming but I can’t be sure. Wait, I know who’s screaming, it’s me. I couldn’t say how long I simply lay there, clutching my head and screaming in agony. When the pain finally does recede leaving me shaking on the ground in a puddle of my own tears, Snow and Celestia are looking at me with worried expressions. The sky’s back to normal so I guess everything must be over. “So, how’d it go? I was a bit indisposed for the end of it.” My voice comes out jagged and just above a whisper, probably did some damage to my throat with all the screaming. Even still I try to give my best carefree grin. The effect however is a bit dampened by Cellys tearful hug as she blubbers incomprehensibly about worry and losses. I look to Snow for some help, only to find the tall alicorn whipping away her own tears. What catches my eye however is not her but the changeling standing beside her. The pink one Snow says changes her name a lot.
“Sorry about that little miss.” Her voice is chipper and upbeat, with an apologetic undertone to it. How does she make it do that? “We had a lot to hold onto at once and screwed up the timing a bit. You weren’t supposed to get the moon until after we crashed the four together.” The changeling looked small standing this close, probably smaller than even me. She chuckled a bit nervously, shuffling from hoof to hoof. “That must have hurt quite a bit, sorry again. I did some painkilling magic as soon as we finished but… well I’m sorry.”
“Wait, what do you mean I got the moon?” I can’t understand this strange changeling.
“Oh, ya you were probably pretty out of sorts when we sent out the announcement at the end. Well you see a lot of things changed in order to get the world to function again. One of those things is that the sun and moon no longer work on their own, so the moons yours now and the suns your sisters. We would have asked first but we were kind of desperate at the time so… the moons kind of bound to your soul now. You don’t technically have to move it, but the oceans don’t work all that well without it so, umm, you should probably move it.” The pink changeling shuffled awkwardly a bit more. “I’ll make it worth your time to move them, just give me some time to set everything up. Sorry again for our mistake and forcing this onto you two. Bye!” with that the pink changeling disappeared. No flash or sound, just there one moment and gone the next.
Getting to my hooves is a bit of a chore with stiff mussels but the odd cloth falling in front of my eyes startles me back to the ground. Trying to remove it is even more confusing as it goes nowhere. Looking back over myself is an interesting experience to say the least. The strange cloth turns out to be my mane, which like my tail is a sea of stars flowing in a nonexistent breeze. My wings are larger as well, and looking farther down my newly toned body shows an interesting mark upon my flanks. A crescent moon in a black sky.
Bloom woke up slowly, her own mind still spinning from the pain of Luna’s memory. “Welcome back to the waking world,” an unfamiliar voice spoke calmly. Immediately Bloom willed her bracelets on and focused on seeing through Bastions eyes. The wolf glared down on the gray pegasie letting out a low growl. The newcomer for his part didn’t even give the wolf he sat next to a glance. Instead he took a calm sip of his tea before giving an annoyed look to, Luna? “Do you know how long it took me to track you down princess?” he asked with a bit too much venom to be addressing royalty.
Luna yawned before looking outside at the slowly setting moon. “A good bit longer than it should have if you just got here,” Luna said returning her attention to the gray pegasie. “I’d think the captain of my honor guard would be better than this, it seems I was wrong.” She spoke harshly but her growing smile betrayed her true feelings.
The captain just rolled his eyes. “Maybe if you told anypony before teleporting to the opposite side of another country I could have found you sooner.”
“How did you find me anyway,” Luna asked, “even tracking down the train I was on is impressive, let alone actually getting here on such short notice.” Bloom looked at the middle aged pegasie with new found respect. How fast would he have had to work to find the princess who left no leads and then be sitting in their train car in just over a day?
“I have my ways” the captain said with a smirk. “I may not do much work, but I didn’t get to where I am without picking up a trick or two along the way.”
“So will you be joining us all the way to Ponyville?”
“Somepony has to keep an eye on you, lest you disappear again.”
“Well then, if you’re here anyway want to play a game?” Luna asked pulling a stack of bored games from her mane. To Blooms surprise the stoic looking guards face broke into a grin. Sighing Bloom resigned herself to the string of losses she knew was coming all the way to Ponyville.
As the train pulls to a stop at Ponyville train station I have a choice to make. I could get up calmly and walk to the exit in a dignified manor, head in the air proudly displaying the thin scars across my throat. That’s probably the best choice seeing as I’m in the presence of royalty and all. That’s right, I’ll just get up with elegance; there’s no need to even consider the other options because they are clearly inferior. Unfortunately it seems my legs didn’t get the memo, so my graceful exit looked a lot like a joyous squeal and a mad dash from the cramped train car, Bastion at my heals. The feeling of my hooves on the Ponyville train station, and the old but familiar sent of my home forces a grin onto my face. I find it hard to care much about my childish exit with so much nostalgia all around me. The crisp early morning fog providing a perfect atmosphere for remembering better times.
Living on a farm meant getting up before the sun was normal, especially around harvest season. I can almost see the morning fog hanging thick across Sweet Apple Acres. Dew covered grass leaves my hooves wet as I walk through the familiar rows of apple trees. The muffling fog and the early morning leave the world more silent than any other time, and after a minute of walking I can’t even see our old farm house anymore. The only things around me are just me and the apple trees stretching into the gray haze. I use to just walk until the morning sun scattered the fog as if it was never there.
The sound of Luna and Windswept stepping onto the train’s platform breaks me from my memories. That’s probably for the best anyway, those days are gone and they aren’t exactly coming back. I should really learn to move on; staying bitter isn’t good for anypony. Even if just being here is reopening old wounds…
“Where to Luna?” I ask in as chipper a voice as I can manage. With some luck she won’t notice anything’s wrong.
The train right must have been even worse for Luna than it was for me given her size. She gives a long stretch that is oddly reminiscent of a cat, before answering my question. “Well Rarity is the one who sent me the letter, so her house probably. Unless there is somewhere you would like to stop by first.”
I pause, thinking of everything I remember about my home town. Is there anything I want to do here before meeting Rarity? Sitting here like this I notice something, I feel good. No that’s not quite right, my back hurts from sitting so long and my legs still need a good stretch. I feel... powerful. Yes that’s it I feel like I could take Rainbow Dash in a race and win, like I could take on the world. It takes me another minute to figure out why. It’s the Everfree forest and Sweet Apple Acres; I’ve never been so close to this much nature but I can feel the raw magic oozing from that side of town. In all honesty it’s a bit intoxicating, like I’m getting high on life. “I think I have somewhere I’d like to stop by before we go see Rarity.” I say, getting to my hooves.
The gentle sway of my sister’s element is as reassuring as the family orchards gentle pulsing. No I guess that’s wrong isn’t it, I suppose bother the element and the orchard belong to me now. That’s going to take some getting used to. From this distance I can’t make out what the trees are saying, but the welcoming feeling comes across clear as day. It helps clear away my darkening mood, and puts a bit more spring in my step as a make my way towards the edge of town. The happy background chatter of grass enjoying the morning dew helps to take my mind of just where it is I’m headed. Bastions silent as usual but I can feel the soft reassurance coming from her. It’s surprising how quickly having the large wolf by my side became normal. Being a tree she doesn’t talk much, but then again she doesn’t have to. At first it was odd being so close to another and I would often close the link that conveys emotions between us. Now though I feel oddly alone with it closed, like I’m missing a part of myself. Perhaps this should worry me more than it does, but I find it hard to find the time to worry with how fast my life has been going. Only time will tell if that’s a good thing I suppose.
The graveyard sits at the top of a hill overlooking Whitetail Woods. The low stone wall that rings it is more to mark the edges of the graveyard than to keep ponies out. Luna and Windswept say nothing, but I’m thankful they don’t pass the entrance. This isn’t a particularly large graveyard, and I don’t have any trouble finding my way. The Apple family is the oldest on in town, our graves stand in the back of the graveyard below an old willow tree. Passing stone after stone I can’t help but wonder, not for the first time what they must have been like. My thoughts grow ever darker as I pass grave after grave, but the gentile happy chatter of the grass keeps me from slipping too far. Grass is always the same no matter where it grows. I come to a stop in front of the great willow tree that stand over me family’s graves. “Do you know where Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Applejack are buried?” My voice comes out just above a whisper, the fog only adding to the stillness in the air. Even the grass stopped there endless chatter, probably surprised I’m talking to the willow.
‘It has been a long time sense I last saw you young Apple, it is rare to see one who listens to nature like you ancestors did. The old tree has an almost wistful tone when speaking of the past. As for you question, yes I know where your kin are laid to rest little Apple.’ The willow pauses when Bastion comes up behind me on silent paws, only to sit down at the base of the massive tree. ‘Fourth grave on your right belongs to Lady Smith. Two down from that are her grandson and granddaughter. I am glad to see you came; Lady Smith will surely rest easy knowing you are safe.’ The old willow had sad reverence in his voice when speaking of Granny.
“How do you know my Granny Smith?” It’s odd to see a tree speak so kindly about anypony unless they knew them very well. The grass murmurs in hushed whispers but I ignore them, I’m waiting for the willow to respond.
When the he does respond I can tell he’s lost in a memory, ‘Lady Smith planted me here when her grandfather passed away.’ I know there’s more to that story, but the willow doesn’t seem as if he will elaborate upon it.
“Thank you” I say, my voice growing thick with emotions I didn’t think would slip out so soon. My heavy hooves carry me the few steps to stand before my grandmothers grave, I can almost see her gentle smile as she rocks back in her old chair. “I’m home grandma,” I say with a shaky voice. “These blind eyes make it hard to build things like I use to, but I still manage to get into trouble.” I half laugh half sob, “I know I didn’t take care of the farm like you would have wanted, instead I ran to another country and wormed my way into a school for shamans. I know you didn’t expect me to become a shaman, b-but I hope you’re still proud of me.” Tracing my hoof over the pie carved into her headstone I force a small smile for my grandmother before walking further down the row of graves. Passing two which must belong to my parents feel as though I should stop, but I don’t. Mother and father both died before I got a chance to know them. In truth I only know their faces from pictures in the old farm house. Pictures that are gone now. It’s hard to miss what you’ve never known so I walk right past them.
Stopping at the third down, tracing my brother’s half apple carved into the stone. “Hey Big Mac,” I start and my voice cracks. I can almost see my brother’s gentle smile as he waits for me to go on. His quiet patience was what I mimicked when I learned to talk to plants. To this day I don’t know if he could hear them himself, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Swallowing I continue, “I know you would disapprove of my reckless behavior. Running off to a faraway land and binding my soul to a tree with forbidden magic sounds bad when you say it out loud. And maybe I did do it all for the wrong reasons, but I won’t say I regret it.” I let out a little laugh, even in the silence I feel like my brothers frowning at me. Not mad but concerned for me. “The willow tree just told me where to find your graves” I say as if that makes everything ok, “who else can say that?” Pressing my forehead to the cold stone helps to calm my nerves, and stop my shaking voice. “I hope you sleep well brother, I’ll be fine now so you don’t have to worry about me.” I exhale a shaky breath, and continue a bit more steadily. “Please rest in peace, for me. I’m home now; everything is going to be fine.”
A few steps later I’m at Applejacks grave. My shaking hooves don’t want to stand anymore, so I sit and lean on my sisters head stone. “I’m the Element of Honesty now,” I whisper, as if speaking it to loudly will make the necklace I still wear fade like fog in the sun. “Do you think I’m good enough to do it sis? If I’m honest I don’t know if I am.” My chest feels tight, and I’m glad I decided to sit or I might have fallen over. “Luna seems to think I can do it but I’m not as confident as her.” I let out a mirthless little laugh,” I don’t think I can even be around Twilight or Fluttershy without violence as I am now. I’m not you after all; you would have forgiven them in a moment. Sure you would have been angry, but inside I know you would have forgiven an honest mistake.” My throat is getting tight but I don’t stop. “Not me though, I make rash decisions and fall apart when things get hard. I know logically that I shouldn’t be this angry, it’s not like they wanted any of this to happen. Still when I think of them I get this…” I trail off looking for a way to describe my feelings. “Perhaps I’m not nearly as together as you always were. I’ve gotten good at pretending to be in control, but in truth I’m scared and barely getting by without you.” Hanging my head I trace small circles in the grass with a hoof. “I never learned how to actually be a great pony sis; I only know how to pretend. I don’t think that’s going to be enough.” Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves I lean further against my sister’s grave. For all the skill and power I’ve acquired I feel like a child sitting here. “Can I tell you a secret sis? In shamanism there a cost to every spell cast, most of the time its small and hardly noticeable if at all. But I bound my soul to a tree’s. I don’t think this is going to have a small cost.” I smile, “not that I wouldn’t do it again given the chance, but this cost might be too much for me.” Getting up I plant a light kiss on my sisters grave. “Be sure to save me a spot on the other side sis, I might be there sooner than planned.”
Walking back to the willow tree Elsrend’s voice echoes in the back of my head from years ago. ‘Remember Bloom, lesser shamanism doesn’t have a noticeable price to them. But every one of the greater shamanisms has a price that will be paid, one way or another. The elements do not serve us, and they will be paid for their work, no matter how kind the spirit. Spells too far beyond ones means can have dire consequences, do not forget that.’
Returning to Bastion who had been waiting at the willow tree I nod towards the exit. She gets back up on silent paws and we make our way out of the graveyard through the morning fog. I gently removed the Element of Honesty from around my neck and give it to Bastion for safe keeping. Her swallowing the necklace nearly gives me a heart attack, but she assures me it’s safe and sound in a hollow where her heart would be.
Luna and Windswept say nothing as we head back to Ponyville proper. Even the plants we pass say nothing; it seems they can read the mood better than most ponies. I’m glad for the quiet walk as it lets me organize my thoughts, and get my head back in order before we reach Rarity’s boutique. As we walk down the empty streets in the fog it occurs to me how little sound my companions make. It’s almost unnerving to be honest how Luna and Windswept are like ghosts to my right. Even my sensitive ears can’t pick up a sound from either, if not for my bracelets I would think they had left me. Bastion to my left is almost as noiseless, only she slight creak of her joints give her away as she walks. I can’t help but think I would never see her coming in the Everfree, good thing she’s my friend.
We make it to Rarity’s without incident. In fact I don’t think anypony is even awake in town, which I attribute to Luna even if she denies interfering with others sleep. Knocking I hear a muffled ‘coming’ from inside that doesn’t sound like how I remember Rarity. I raise an eyebrow at Luna but she says nothing. Shrugging I turn back to the door as it open to a small gasp. The beautiful pale green eyes framed by a light purple mane are staring right at me. Her gray coat so light it’s almost white goes well with the pen striped suit she’s currently wearing, must be a Rarity original if she’s wearing it but I didn’t think Rarity made suits. In any case Sweetie pulls off the look with ease; I’m a bit jealous. I, much like my sister, have never been comfortable in a dress but looking at Sweetie Bell I kind of want a suit now. Her voice breaks me from staring when she whispers, “Are you real?”
I could answer her, but then again that slacked jaw looks so funny on such a dignified face. I guess she’s a lot like her sister in that regard. So instead of saying anything I plant a light kiss on the stunned unicorn’s forehead before strolling past her into the boutique. “I come all the way here Rarity and you don’t even come to great me at the train station,” I yell as I pass Sweetie still shocked in the doorway. “I’m hurt.”
“If it isn’t the Bell of Hoofington,” Windswept says to Sweetie behind me. He must have better manners than me, waiting for an invitation in and all. Sweetie completely ignores him though; she’s still staring at me, standing in the middle of her sister’s boutique like I own the place.
“Applebloom?” she asks in disbelief.
I can’t blame her, I would like nothing more than to hug her and dance and sing and cry… but Rarity quite literally saved my life and I have to thank her for that first. I turn back towards her, putting on the most sincere smile I can manage. “I love you too Sweetie, and I’ve missed you but I have to thank your sister. She saved my life; it seems they frown on forbidden magic in Zebraca.”
“Is that what you did?” Rarity asks as she comes down the stairs. She looks as beautiful as ever, but her eyes reveal subtle the age her coat hides so well.
“Technically my friend Ellennara actually performed the spell. After all only a genius like her could pull such a thing off and not get me killed. Still I made her do it so it’s only right I took the fall, right?” I think I’m to chipper for such a serious topic, but I can’t keep the smile off my face being in the same room as Rarity and Sweetie.
“Wait! Kill you, what did this spell even do?” Sweetie asked with a bit of panic slipping into her voice.
I nod my head towards the open door, and the previously unnoticed wolf standing in it. “Bound my soul to her.” It’s a painfully blunt statement that doesn’t even begin to explain the how or why involved. It’s the type of statement that leads ponies to making brash decisions without all the information. I really shouldn’t say such things and expect everypony to calmly wait for an explanation…
I never fully appreciated the skill it must take for Rarity to reverse teleport her fainting couch whilst fainting. She pulls it off with grace though, in a motion so smooth even the glow of her horn could easily be missed if one wasn’t watching for it. Sweetie for her part gives out a startled yelp, jumps a foot in the air, and puts a dozen of her sister’s gems deep into the bark of Bastions face. I may have given my own, extremely dignified shout of alarm at the sight of a dozen gems coming straight at my face. I in no way ducked my head below my hooves shouting a combination of zebra and gryphon profanity, and anypony who says differently is lying. Bastion on the other hoof hardy seemed to notice the projectiles and doesn’t even flinch. I guess being stationary for most of your life you don’t even consider moving out of the way as an option.
“C-could you not do that please Sweetie?” I ask when I’m sure my voice won’t shake. “Her eyes are how I see now and you nearly gave me a heart attack.”
The well-dressed unicorn seems more shocked and confused than when I first arrived, but at least she sets down the hoof-full of gems shed grabbed for another attack. At some point during this little fiasco Rarity woke back up, and is now gently pulling the imbedded gems from Bastions face. She’s less panicky than I expected from her, and I’m starting to wonder if the couch was just a force of habit.
Giggling from behind me draws Bastions eyes to Windswept and Luna shaking in the corner of the room as they attempt to hide their laughter. I’m not completely sure when, or even how they managed to slip inside unnoticed. But considering their position I don’t bother asking questions. This must also be the first time ether of the sisters noticed the princess as both give hurried apologies and proper bows. I should probably bow more often as well now that I think about it, but it’s just so much work and I don’t think Luna cares much for ceremony.
“Please, there is no need for such formality amongst friends.” Luna says with a smile, clearly still trying to get her mirth under control. “I hope you don’t mind that me and captain Windswept here let ourselves in. You seemed excited to see little Bloom here again so we didn’t want to intrude.” Luna calmly walked right up to Bastion, touching her glowing horn to the great wolfs face to mend the damage the gems had done. The casual way the night princess acts around the wolf standing as tall as she does seems to put the Bell sisters more at ease. “Please be more kind to Bastion here as well. She is a gentle soul so long as you’re not playing with fire and means you no harm.” Patting the wolf, Luna turns and takes a seat on a nearby couch.
‘I am sorry for scaring your friend’s m’lady.’ Bastion whispers in my head. Id almost forgotten she could do that because of how rarely she’s spoken. I suppose trees don’t talk a lot, and given she didn’t have many other plants to talk to it makes sense she would be more reserved.
“You seem uncomfortable Bastion. Would you feel better at the orchard?”
The great wolf shuffles nervously from paw to paw. ‘I do miss the earth beneath me m’lady, but you need me to see.’
“I’ve lived 9 years without my sight you silly little tree, I’ll live for a bit longer.” Turning to Luna I ask, “Can you teleport Bastion to my orchard, I’d rather not cause a panic the day I get back. I’ll talk to the mayor latter today and announce that me and Bastion are here, and relatively harmless.”
Luna smiles, and Bastion softly says, ‘thank you’ before the princesses’ horn begins to glow.
“Play nice,” I say with a grin, and she’s gone with the silent whoosh of air entering the newly formed empty space. Turning to face Rarity my smile acquires a touch of sadness, “so miss Rarity, I promised to answer all of your questions. What would you like to know?”
“What is with the wolf darling?” the worry is clear in her voice. It reminds me of the worried scolding’s the Crusaders and I would get after one of our thoughtless crusades. I can’t help how happy it makes me to know she can see more than just what’s changed.
“The ‘wolf’ is actually a tree, an old friend of mine who I recently bound to myself. You don’t have to worry about her though, she may look frightening but trust me she’s got all the blood lust of an old oak.” I can’t tell if this put her more or less at ease, but she doesn’t question me farther. Simply gives me a hug saying, “If you ever want to talk I’m here for you darling” before making her way to the kitchen for some tea.
Sweetie Bell on the other hoof simply stares at me. Bastion had frightened her into action, but with the wolf now gone she’s just looking at me. As if the slightest move on her part and ill disappear again like a mirage. Slowly I walk across the room to stand in front of her, so close I can smell her perfume. “Lilacs” I ask, my voice as soft as I can make it after the incident. “It fits you.”
“You’re not going to leave again are you?” Her voice is steady, but my bracelets show me the tears hitting the floor clear as day. Instead of answering I pull her into a hug, humming an old zebra lullaby Ellennara taught me as she cries into my coat. “Welcome home” she sobbed over and over again. I wish I could sing it for her, but even when we were fillies she was always the singer. At some point Luna and Windswept must have left, but I wasn’t paying them any mind. I simply sat on the floor of the boutique, holding Sweetie and humming lullabies I’ve learnt over the years.
Eventually the unicorn cried herself to sleep and Rarity gently lifts her onto the fainting couch, covering her with a blanket before leading me into the kitchen. “Thank you” Rarity says closing the kitchen door. “She needed that more than you know.”
“I did try to send letters over the years,” I say meekly. “Everypony’s just so famous I assume they got lost in the crowd. I never got a reply in any case.”
“You got the last one here just fine” Rarity says as she warms up a fresh pot of tea.
“Aye,” I say before catching myself. The old gryphons I use to drink with have rubbed off on me. If I’m not careful I start to sound like an old northern gryphon. “I mean yes, governments have a way of getting in touch with just about anypony.”
Rarity gives a nod before remembering I don’t have eyes and saying “yes, yes they do.”
Placing cup of tea on the table in front of me, before guiding my hoof to it with her magic makes me feel like a filly again. I can’t help but giggle at how gently Rarity maneuvers my hooves to the tea cup. “You do know I’m not made of glass right Miss Rarity, I won’t break and I’m not completely helpless.” Her apology is a bit too proper, even for her. I offer a grin to the embarrassed mare, and I think it helps. “So, what’s Pinkie got planned?” I ask.
“How do you know about Pinkies party?”
“Rarity please, I may have been gone for a long time but I haven’t forgotten Pinkie. I have no doubt she knows I’m here. In all honesty I’m surprised there wasn’t a banner waiting for me at the train station.” On a whim I lift the tea cup, then the saucer. Finally I find what I’m looking for at the bottom of the fruit basket under the bananas; a fresh, warm cupcake with a single lit candle on top. Rarity, clearly long past the point of being surprised at Pinkies antics, only sighing at this.
“Would it kill that girl to just show up and give you a cupcake like a normal pony?” Rarity asks. I’d like to answer her, but I’m too busy savoring the best cupcake I’ve had in years.
“Possibly,” I finally manage after finishing the gift. “It is Pinky so you never know.” A less than dignified snort is the only response I get from Rarity. “Say Rares, why did the captain call Sweetie ‘the Bell of Hoofington’?” She winces at this, and I mentally scold myself for being so thoughtless.
“That’s something you’ll have to ask Sweetie,” Rarity says cryptically. Though I can tell from her tone there’s a whole lot more to this than she’s telling me. As much as I’d like to press her for information I don’t, if she doesn’t want to tell me that’s her choice.
Shrugging I take another sip of my tea to stall for time while I think of something to say. I normally don’t mind awkward silences much, it’s not like I ever have that moment where nopony knows what to look at. But I can feel Rarity looking at me, and her keen eyes seem to look too deeply. “So, when’s the party?” I’m grasping at straws here and I hope it doesn’t show on my face.
“Was your coat always that color?” She asks, completely ignoring my question.
“Yes…?” After a while you don’t really need eyes to tell when someponys giving you a deadpan look. It’s the little things like the subtle movement of the head that give it away, and Rarity with all her dramatics is easier to read than most ponies. “Don’t give me that look. It’s not like I’ve seen a mirror recently, how am I supposed to know what my coat normally looks like?” She flinches back at my tone, and my ears droop in shame. That came out much harsher than I had intended. “I’m sorry,” I murmur.
“It’s all right dear,” she says kindly, but that only makes me feel worse. I owe a lot to Rarity. Sitting in this room, in this town with the past all around me I find myself closing up again.
We are both silent for a time, unsure of what to say to each other. Reaching the bottom of my cup I scrounge up the courage to ask her, “Was it nice? The funeral I mean, you made sure I was nice didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she answers. This time though I can hear the age in her voice. For the first time I can remember she lets the weight of her thoughts play out across her voice. “It was the most beautiful event I’ve ever done.”
I always knew it would be, knew Rarity would send her friends off with grace. Still it felt good to hear her say it. “Thank you,” I tell her as she refills my cup of tea.
We sit like this for another hour or so. Waiting in a comfortable silence for the sun to come up, for the day to start, and for whatever Pinkie has planned to begin.