Author's Note

"Don't go licking a tree hoping for maple syrup, all you'll get is a sore tongue for your trouble." An old saying from my grandpa.

XVIII

"What... How?" I ask in shock as my hidden blade retracts. The image flickers a bit as I hear my friend chuckle at my shock and awe. Sparing a quick glance at Nesa shows me that she is on her knees crying, and I didn't blame her one bit.

"Osiris, there is much to tell you, but I'm afraid that we can't do so here. Please follow this mechanoid, and I can tell you more." Clockwork says before seemingly seeing Nesa, and not commenting, "This way please."

I look to Nesa, who nods her okay, before following the spider machine with the image of Clockwork leading me through his workshop. While following, I look around at all he had created in his life. Workstations aplenty were all full of projects in various states of construction. Gadgets, gizmos and tools of all kinds hung from racks and laid on massive shelves.

Horseless carriages, flying machines, ship blueprints, weapons, and so much more. We walked for a good ten minutes in silence. In this time, whilst perusing my late friend's work, I had taken a few glimpses of the spell work in the projection crystal that the spider dutifully held on its head. My eyes narrow a bit at what I see, but decide to let Clockworks projection tell me what it will.

Stopping at a door after our long walk, I see the projection gesture to the door. I knew what the door was. His tomb. His final physical resting place.

"We will talk more in here." The projection says, before flickering out. The crystal was still glowing, but now the black obsidian orbs that made the spider's eyes were glowing as well. Another ability of the spell work that was in that crystal.

The Spider now had my full attention, not just as a friend, but for different reasons. I watched it carefully as it crawled up the tomb's door, and set itself into a socket at the center of the door, before the crystal on it goes dark.

My magic is starting to spark from my hands due to my nerves. Before too much time had passed, the crystal lights up again, and the spider hops down. Hearing gargantuan mechanisms beginning to shift and move, I widen my legs into a gentle horse stance for more stability, adding in sea pony styles to stay on my feet as the ground starts to shake slightly.

The entrance to the tomb slowly sinks into the floor as more machinery starts to power up. Low growls of boilers, and high-pitched whines from high speed fans can be heard for a few seconds before a heavy pulse of magic from the tomb hushes all the racket down to gentle background noise that almost could be mistaken for music. A deep rhythmic bass filled my ears with a gentle pressure.

"Please enter." The spider says in Clockworks voice. I ignite my magic on my left hand, and start condensing energy for a simple spell.

"Lumos." I say as the energy collapses in on itself, and forming a phantom mini-star. Using an opaque layer of magic around said star allows me to hood my magical light.

Aiming my light around, I could see a massive machine suspended from the ceiling, over an ornate elven sarcophagus. As I got closer to my fallen brother's resting place, the machine overhead starts to stir in response to my magic. Runic circuits start to glow, and a soft cyan light fills the area.

"Osiris." Clockwork's voice emits from the massive machine, "There is much that needs to be said, but you have questions. Ask, and I will do my best to answer." The runes dim a bit, almost as if Clockwork is actually listening for my query. Looking over his tomb, and seeing his face carved into the sarcophagus, makes me look up to the machine.

"Why is your soul still here?" I ask the most burning question in my mind. The machine releases a deep booming chuckle, and the runes all flash and dance with magic.

"I never could hide anything from you old friend." Clockwork respond before sighing, "A different question, I don't want to talk about the heavy stuff just yet." I nod in understanding.

"What happened to everyone? After I was petrified." I ask and clarify. Clockwork hums in thought for a bit as magic continues to dance across his metallic proxy.

"Who to start with..." He mumbles to himself before giving an "ah ha."

"You can already guess what happened with Nesa and Rachuun, and some of what happened to me, so all that leaves are the other five." He starts, "Nemera went back home to learn from, and eventually lead, her people. Ty'k'dos also returned to his homeland, but I do not know much after that. Otia is still where you left him, and remains vigilant as always, though I recommend visiting soon as his sanity is slipping a bit. Glint is somehow still alive, and hiding in Manehatten. And finally Undine has been travelling the Oceans, and gathering pieces."

I bring my right hand to rub my chin. Most of the information was as I expected. Not much had been screwed with so far. Looking back up to Clockwork I ask, "How many potions do we have?" This causes magic to dance across the runes in different patterns. Not being able to decipher what they meant, I just waited.

"Thousands. Production is still continuing each night due to advances in the method of production. Older bottles are stronger due to time, so be careful, but all will have the base desired effects set by you." He answers.

"That is all I need to know for now my friend, aside what I came here for." I tell him. He hums a bit more.

"The world has changed differently than what we expected. The shadows are deeper, and darker than we expected. There are more people in total then ever before, most are not willing to fight without a massive incentive, and children grow up ignorant of the world. Favorable, but not, at the same time..." He goes on to inform me about the state of the world. Politics, the high, the low, the rich and the poor.

"Celestia has censored much from history over the last thousand years. Be careful moving forward after I say what I have to tell you." He finishes. Most of the information he gave me was useless, but good to know. Some of it disturbing, and filed away for later thought. Most of it worked towards my favor.

"Thank you for bringing me up to speed, but lets get down to what in Tartarus happened?" I ask at my wits end. I could hear the smirk in his voice. He always liked verbally toying with people. Harmless, but annoying.

"You're not going to like what I have to tell you," He starts, the lights on his proxy dimmed a bit, "I was struck down Osiris. One of your fears became truth. There is an organization that figured out what we were doing, and tried to stop it by killing me. The only things I know of them is their insignia, and their name; The Tears of Umbral"

Clockwork paused, knowing I need time to process what he just said.

The Tears of Umbral. A cult I thought long dead by my own hand. Once upon a time they were a trusted knightly order for my grandfather King Umbral, only to be twisted to madness by Discord over time. He planted the idea that umbral needed a very bloody crusade to ascend to godhood. Luckily my grandparents banished them to the void, and the remnants scattered only to reform four thousand years later. I had rampaged through their mockery of a hidden fortress when they got the bright idea that ritual sacrificing my mother and aunt would bring Umbral back to life, and ascend him.

History remembers my actions, even now.

"The insignia?" I ask him. My phantom star is snuffed, and the spider projects the desired image above itself. It was an eye that had black tears dripping from it. Assorted around it were examples of jewelry that members have worn. Black tear drops.

"They struck on the night of a new moon wearing all black and have plenty of illegal enchants, weapons, and poisons. Highly trained assassins, and berserkers. Quite deadly." Clockwork rambled off to me. giving me some idea what I was facing.

"Estimated numbers?" I ask in our usual form of info exchange. Quick short queries, with quick short answers.

"Tens of thousands easily, more than likely many more. A thousand years is a long time to spread and expand." He responds insinuating that he lost track of how large they became, making me frown. Many thoughts rans through my head. How to send spies places to learn things I will need to know, resources being moved, troops being drafted, and so much more on how to combat this threat. I only had to do one thing first.

"What do you want to do now Clu?" I asked quietly, and seriously using his nickname to convey the weight behind it. The spider scuttled away, and his proxy went quiet. I waited patiently for his response. I stood there silently for a few minutes as I waited. We talked for a few hours, and I could wait years for his response. He could take his time.

Just as I opened my mouth to repeat my question, the runes on his proxy slowly started to blink and glow again, starting slow and speeding up until the entire runic circuit stays brightly lit. I had to widen my stance as the whole damn thing started to descend, causing the room to shake horribly.

Large sections of his proxy started shifting about and stop, almost like the tumblers of a giant lock. All fell silent as a cylinder, about six inches in diameter, is lowered before me three feet from my face. A split runs up the face of the cylinder, and a bright cyan light can be seen peaking through the split in the shiny silver.

My eyes widen as I know his intentions, and my knees start going weak. The promise we made to each other had many different outcomes based on what happens in his life. For example, if he were to live and die peacefully, then I would put him to rest as a constellation in the night sky.

He was murdered, and the idea we had for that, was...

"Soul fusion." I whisper in slight fear and awe as the split opens, and Clockwork's soul lights up the tomb in his gentle cyan glow. He chuckles at this sadly, his soul pulsing in time with his voice.

"Yes my friend. You will need the extra power to defeat these dark cultist, and I am more than willing to help with my all." He says as I take a half step towards him.

"I don't know if you knew, but I was infused with alicorn magic, and now have a longer lifespan due to it." I say to him, giving him an out.

"That was one of the expected outcomes Osiris. Besides, we both know you cant refuse this. Our promise was bound by magic." He reaffirms. I take another half step, and raise my hand to grab his soul.

"Last chance my friend." I tell him. His soul brightening at my hand's approach.

"We both know I will delay paradise for myself, because my friend..." His soul lurches forth into my hand, "You are filled with Patience!"

Clockwork's soul moves over my chest, where my own soul leaps from my chest to meet it. As the bright golden yellow of my soul appears in the room, a rainbow like aura seems to burn around my soul for a few moments before strings of golden light slither out of my soul over to Clockwork's as his does the same.

The strings connect, and snap taught, pulling his soul closer to mine. His cyan soul turns to the open position, and connects with the bottom of mine. A small pressure wave comes off of me from the connection. Blowing back the thick layers of dust in the room.

I'm left breathing heavily in the silence of his tomb. Our joined souls fading back into my chest, as my eyes start burning, shortly followed by the rest of my body. Our mana was mixing, and I couldn't hold it back for very long.

I bring up a shaking hand as I try to summon some magic to teleport to the badlands, but instead I fall to the ground as gravity seems to increase on me by thirty fold. His magic screwing with how to cast.

Now immobilized by my own magic, I scream in pain as our magics combined into one. My vision blacks out and I can feel myself changing... again. Bone grew slightly longer, and my ears felt like they melted off my head as they fused to an elven point. My muscles felt like magma was hidden behind my skin as I gained a bit more muscle mass.

As the pain starts to die down, I can feel one last surge coming. Managing to focus through the pain to press my fingers together for a snap teleport, guided by Clu's presence in my mind.

I hear the click, and my magic flares around my body, a beautiful bright teal, before I feel the rough blasted dirt of the badlands under my face. Just in time before my vision goes from black to white, and my world implodes with pain.